mouth /maʊθ/► SEE ALLbe all mouthdown in the mouthmake sb’s mouth waterrun off at the mouthme and my big mouthbe born with a silver spoon in your mouthfoam at the mouthput your foot in it(not) look a gift horse in the mouthput your head in the lion’s mouthyour heart is in your mouth(straight) from the horse’s mouthlive (from) hand to mouthmelt in your mouthput your money where your mouth isopen your (big) mouthshoot your mouth off (about sth)shut your mouth/trap/face/gob!shut sb’s mouthleave a bad/nasty taste in the/your mouthwatch your mouth/tongueby word of mouthput words in/into sb’s mouthtake the words (right) out of sb’s mouth ●be all ˈmouth (BrE alsobe all mouth and (no) ˈtrousers) (informal) if you say sb is all mouth, you mean that they talk a lot about doing sth, but are, in fact, not brave enough to do it只说不做；只是嘴上发发狠而已◆Don’t be scared of her. She won’t hurt you — she’s all mouth. 不用怕她，她不会对你怎么样，她只是说说而已。●down in the ˈmouth (informal) unhappy and depressed闷闷不乐；沮丧◆Why is she looking so down in the mouth? 为什么她看着如此闷闷不乐？●make sb’s ˈmouth watermake sb feel hungry; make sb want to do or have sth very much使某人馋得流口水；引起强烈欲望；诱人◆The smell of your cooking is making my mouth water. 你做的菜真香，我口水都要流出来了。◆The sight of all that money made his mouth water. 这些钱看得他垂涎欲滴。▸ˈmouth-watering
adjective
◆a mouth-watering smell 诱人的香味●run off at the ˈmouth (NAmE, informal) talk too much, in a way that is not sensible胡话连篇；夸夸其谈；信口开河◆I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to run off at the mouth like that. 对不起，我这么说可不是信口开河。●me and my big ˈmouth (spoken) used when you realize that you have said sth that you should not have said（表示意识到自己说了不该说的话）我这张大嘴巴，我真多嘴●be born with a silver ˈspoon in your mouth (saying) be born into a very rich family生于富贵之家；出身富裕◆They had both been born with silver spoons in their mouths, and never had to worry about money.他们俩都生于富贵人家，从来不用担心缺钱花。●foam at the ˈmouth (informal) be extremely angry大怒；暴怒◆He stood there foaming at the mouth. I’ve never seen anybody so angry.他站在那儿大发雷霆，我还从没见过有人生这么大气的。NOTE If an animal foams at the mouth, it has a mass of small bubbles in and around its mouth, especially because it is very ill or angry. * foam at the mouth 原指动物因病重或发怒而口吐白沫。●put your ˈfoot in it (BrE) ( put your foot in your ˈmouthNAmE, BrE) (informal) say or do sth that upsets, offends or embarrasses sb without intending to失言；说错话；（无意中）冒犯某人◆He really put his foot in it when he mentioned the party to her. She hadn’t been invited.他跟她提那次聚会的事可真让她难堪，因为她没被邀请。●(not) look a ˌgift horse in the ˈmouth (informal) (not) find sth wrong with sth given to you free（对送上门的东西）（不）挑三拣四◆He didn’t want to accept the offer of a free meal but I told him not to look a gift horse in the mouth.他不想接受这次免费吃喝的机会，我叫他对送上门的好事不要挑三拣四。ORIGINThe usual way to judge the age of a horse is to look at its teeth.判断马年龄的通常做法是察看它的牙齿。●put your ˌhead in the lion’s ˈmouthdeliberately put yourself in a dangerous or risky situation把脑袋往狮子嘴里送；使自己置身险境；铤而走险◆So I put my head in the lion’s mouth and asked my boss for a pay rise.于是我冒险要求老板给我加薪。●your heart is in your ˈmouth (informal) you feel very anxious or afraid心都提到嗓子眼里了；吓得要命；非常紧张◆My heart was in my mouth as I waited to hear whether the jury would find me guilty or not guilty.等候陪审团宣布我有罪还是无罪时，我心都提到嗓子眼里了。●(straight) from the horse’s ˈmouth (informal) (of information, etc.信息等) directly from the person who really knows because they are closely connected with its source直接的；可靠的◆‘How do you know he’s leaving?’ ‘I got it straight from the horse’s mouth. He told me himself.’“你怎么知道他要走了呢？”“我的消息来源绝对可靠，他自己告诉我的。”ORIGINThis may come from horse racing and the humorous suggestion that you had heard from the horse itself whether it would win the race.这个习语或许源于赛马，指一种幽默的联想，即直接从马那里听到它是否能赢得比赛的消息。●live (from) ˌhand to ˈmouthspend all the money you earn on basic needs such as food, without being able to save any money仅够糊口度日；勉强糊口◆There’s no way we can even think about travelling to Europe this year, as we are literally living from hand to mouth.今年我们根本就不可能指望去欧洲度假，我们现在简直是挣一天吃一天。▸ˌhand-to-ˈmouth
adjective
◆a hand-to-mouth existence勉强维持的生活●ˌmelt in your ˈmouth (of food食物) be soft and very good to eat入口即化；柔嫩可口◆They serve steaks that just melt in your mouth.他们做的牛排柔嫩可口。●put your money where your ˈmouth is (informal) show that you really mean what you say, by actually doing sth, giving money, etc. rather than just talking about it说话兑现；用行动证明自己的话◆The government talks about helping disabled people, but doesn’t put its money where its mouth is.政府说要救助残疾人，但却没有实际行动。◆You think she’ll win? Come on, then, put your money where your mouth is (= have a bet with me).你认为她会赢？那咱们打个赌吧。●open your (big) ˈmouth (informal) say sth when you should not多嘴；乱说◆Why do you always have to open your big mouth? Can’t you just keep quiet sometimes?你怎么总是这么多嘴多舌的？你就不能安静一会儿？●shoot your ˈmouth off (about sth)1.talk publicly or carelessly about things which should be secret随便乱说，信口乱讲（涉及秘密的事）◆This is a secret. Please don’t shoot your mouth off to everyone about it.这可是秘密，不要对人乱讲。2.talk loudly and with too much pride about sth吹嘘；胡吹；大吹大擂◆Mark is always shooting his mouth off about all the money he earns.马克总是吹嘘自己如何能挣钱。OPPwatch your mouth/tongue●shut your ˈmouth/ˈtrap/ˈface/ˈgob! ( keep your ˈmouth/ˈtrap shut) (slang) a rude way of telling sb to be quiet or stop talking（用于粗暴地制止某人讲话）住口，闭嘴◆‘Shut your face’, Roger said, ‘or I’ll kick you out.’“闭嘴，”罗杰说，“不然我就把你踢出去。”◆Why can’t you learn to keep your big mouth shut?你为什么不能闭上你那张大嘴！NOTETrap and gob are slang words for ‘mouth’. * trap 与 gob 都是俚语，意为“嘴巴”。●shut sb’s ˈmouthstop sb from saying sth, especially from revealing a secret封上某人的嘴巴（尤指不让其说出秘密）◆His employers tried to shut his mouth by offering him money, but he told the story to the newspapers anyway.他的雇主们想用钱封他的嘴，可是他还是向报界讲了这件事。●leave a bad/nasty ˈtaste in the/your mouth (of an experience经历) make you feel angry, bitter, or disgusted使人感到生气（或痛苦、恶心）◆The idea that the money had been stolen from her sick mother left a nasty taste in the mouth.有人偷走了病中母亲的钱，她一想起这事就生气。◆When you see someone being treated so unkindly, it leaves a bad taste in your mouth.看到有人被如此虐待，会让你感到愤慨。●watch your ˈmouth/ˈtonguebe careful what you say in order not to offend sb or make them angry说话当心；注意言辞◆Now, you just watch your mouth around your grandparents, Billy!比利，在祖父母跟前不要乱说话！OPPshoot your mouth off (about sth)●by ˌword of ˈmouthin spoken, not written, words口头上；经口述◆The news spread by word of mouth.这消息是口头传开的。NOTE ‘By word of mouse’ (= a computer mouse) is a humorous version of this that refers to communication by email, etc. * by word of mouse（通过鼠标点击）是这个习语的幽默说法，亦即通过电子邮件等进行的联系。●put ˈwords in/into sb’s mouthsay or suggest that sb has said sth, when they have not硬说某人说过某些话◆You’re putting words in my mouth. I didn’t say the whole house was dirty, I just said the living room needed a clean.你不要造谣。我从没说过整个屋子都很脏，我只是说客厅需要打扫一下。●take the words (right) out of sb’s ˈmouthsay exactly what another person was going to say说出某人想说的话；说中别人的意思◆‘The speed limit on motorways should be raised.’ ‘I agree completely! You’ve taken the words right out of my mouth!’“高速公路的限速应该提高。”“我完全同意！这正是我想说的。”