muzzle
/ˈmʌzəl/
muzzle noun: the protruding part of an animal's head which includes the nose, mouth and jaws.
Noun
muzzle (plural muzzles)
- The protruding part of an animal's head which includes the nose, mouth and jaws.
- The yellow fog that rubs its back upon the window-panes, / The yellow smoke that rubs its muzzle on the window-panes, […]1915 June, T[homas] S[tearns] Eliot, “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”, in Prufrock and Other Observations, London: The Egoist […], published 1917, →OCLC, page 10
- Synonyms:
- snout
- A person's mouth.
- A device used to prevent an animal from biting or eating, which is worn on its snout.
- The mouth or the end for entrance or discharge of a gun, pistol etc., that the bullet emerges from.
- A piece of the forward end of the plow-beam by which the traces are attached.
- Synonyms:
- bridle
- An openwork covering for the nose, used for the defense of the horse, and forming part of the bards in the 15th and 16th centuries.
Verb
muzzle (third-person singular simple present muzzles, present participle muzzling, simple past and past participle muzzled)
- To bind or confine an animal's mouth by putting a muzzle, as to prevent it from eating or biting.
- Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the corn.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Deuteronomy 25:4
- Synonyms:
- bemuzzle
- To restrain (from speaking, expressing opinion or acting); to gag; to silence; to censor.
- Those who want to muzzle everyone else are likely nothing less than pseudovirtuous.
- Man is brow-beaten, leashed, muzzled, masked, and lashed by boards and councils, by leagues and societies, by church and state.1919, Boris Sidis, The Source and Aim of Human Progress
- To veil, mask, muffle.
- To fondle with the closed mouth; to nuzzle.
- Venus her self would sit Muzzling and Gazing them in the Eyes1692, Roger L’Estrange, “ (please specify the fable number.) (please specify the name of the fable.)”, in Fables, of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists: […], London: […] R[ichard] Sare, […], →OCLC
- And now, while they are climbing the pole in another part of the field, and muzzling in a flour-tub in another, the old farmer […] announces to all whom it may concern that a half-sovereign in money will be forthcoming to the old gamester who breaks most heads; […]1857, Thomas Hughes, Tom Brown's School Days
- To bring the muzzle or mouth near.
- The Bear comes directly up to him, Muzzles and Smells to him.1692, Roger L’Estrange, “ (please specify the fable number.) (please specify the name of the fable.)”, in Fables, of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists: […], London: […] R[ichard] Sare, […], →OCLC
muzzle meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Bengali
muzzle in Hindi
- muzzle, snout
- थोबड़ा thobṛā
muzzle in Tamil
- முகப்பட்டா, முகமுன்பகுதி, முகவார், மூஞ்சி, வாய்க்கட்டு, முகவாய்
muzzle in Marathi
- थूथन
muzzle in Bengali
- মুখবন্ধ, ঠুলি, পশুর মুখ
More languagesFewer languages
- muzzle in Malayalam
- തോക്കിൻറെ വായ്, വായ്പ്പൂട്ട്
- muzzle in Kannada
- ಚಿಕ್ಕ cikka
- muzzle in Arabic
- خَطْم ḵaṭm, خِطَام ḵiṭām, كِمَامَة kimāma
- muzzle in Malay
- muncung, mata bedil
- muzzle in Persian
- پوزه puze, پوزهبند puze-band
- muzzle in Vietnamese
- mõm, rọ mõm
Examples of muzzle in a sentence
- The impact velocity of the projectile was obtained with a velocimeter installed between the muzzle and the target.
- Made from iron, it had spikes across the tongue and acted as a muzzle.
- The other lunged to the side of the second and clamped one clawed hand around its muzzle.
Synonyms of muzzle
Forms of muzzle
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | muzzles |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | muzzles |
| present participle | muzzling |
| past participle | muzzled |
| past | muzzled |
Origin of muzzle
From earlier muzle, musle, mousle, mussel, mozell, from Middle English mosel, from Old French musel, museau, muzeau (modern French museau), from Late Latin mūsus (“snout”), probably expressive of the shape of protruded lips and/or influenced by Latin mūgīre (“to moo, bellow”). Doublet of museau. Displaced native Middle English kevel from Old English cæfl (“gag, bit, muzzle”), see English cavel.
Words formed from muzzle
Phrases with muzzle
Words that rhyme with muzzle
Questions about muzzle
- What does muzzle mean?
- Muzzle means the protruding part of an animal's head which includes the nose, mouth and jaws.
- What is muzzle in Hindi?
- Muzzle in Hindi is थोबड़ा (thobṛā). See Muzzle meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is muzzle?
- Muzzle can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce muzzle?
- Muzzle is pronounced /ˈmʌzəl/.
- What is the plural of muzzle?
- The plural of muzzle is muzzles.
Words near muzzle in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: muzzle (page history and authors); थोबड़ा (Hindi) (page history and authors); muzzle (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); muzzle (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); Muzzle (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); muzzle (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ಚಿಕ್ಕ (Kannada) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-muzzle.wav.
Cite this entry: “muzzle.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/muzzle. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.