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muzzle

noun · verb

Simple meaning

The protruding part of an animal's head which includes the nose, mouth and jaws.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

muhzuhl

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈmʌzəl

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. The protruding part of an animal's head which includes the nose, mouth and jaws.

  2. A leather or wire restraint that fits over an animal's snout (especially a dog's nose and jaws) and prevents it from eating or biting

  3. A device used to prevent an animal from biting or eating, which is worn on its snout.

  4. Forward projecting part of the head of certain animals; includes the jaws and nose

  5. firearms

    The open circular discharging end of a gun

  6. firearms

    The mouth or the end for entrance or discharge of a gun, pistol etc., that the bullet emerges from.

verb

  1. transitive

    To bind or confine an animal's mouth by putting a muzzle, as to prevent it from eating or biting.

  2. Prevent from speaking out

  3. transitivefiguratively

    To restrain (from speaking, expressing opinion or acting); to gag; to silence; to censor.

  4. Fit with a muzzle

    “Muzzle the dog to prevent it from biting strangers.”

  5. intransitive

    To bring the muzzle or mouth near.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
C1 · Advanced (estimated)
Frequency
Uncommon
Formality
Technical

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: The protruding part of an animal's head which includes the nose, mouth and jaws.

Used this way, muzzle is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Matter-of-fact
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use muzzle

  • “Muzzle the dog to prevent it from biting strangers.”verb

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

Device / leather

muzzle brake

Mouth

gun muzzle

Other combinations

muzzle velocitymuzzle flashmuzzle blastmuzzle loadersblack muzzlelong muzzle

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • muzzle-loadingadjectiveCompound term

    Taking the projectile or cartridge through the muzzle.

  • muzzle velocitynounCompound term

    The velocity of a projectile as it leaves the muzzle of a gun.

  • gun muzzlenounCompound term

    The open circular discharging end of a gun.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: protruding part of an animal's head which includes the nose

gag

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.