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View synonyms for muzzle

muzzle

[ muhz-uhl ]

noun

  1. the mouth, or end for discharge, of the barrel of a gun, pistol, etc.
  2. the projecting part of the head of an animal, including jaws, mouth, and nose.
  3. a device, usually an arrangement of straps or wires, placed over an animal's mouth to prevent the animal from biting, eating, etc.


verb (used with object)

, muz·zled, muz·zling.
  1. to put a muzzle on (an animal or its mouth) so as to prevent biting, eating, etc.
  2. to restrain from speech, the expression of opinion, etc.:

    The censors muzzled the press.

    Synonyms: suppress, still, quiet, silence

  3. Nautical. to attach the cable to the stock of (an anchor) by means of a light line to permit the anchor to be pulled loose readily.

muzzle

/ ˈmʌzəl /

noun

  1. the projecting part of the face, usually the jaws and nose, of animals such as the dog and horse
  2. a guard or strap fitted over an animal's nose and jaws to prevent it biting or eating
  3. the front end of a gun barrel
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


verb

  1. to prevent from being heard or noticed

    to muzzle the press

  2. to put a muzzle on (an animal)
  3. to take in (a sail)
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Derived Forms

  • ˈmuzzler, noun
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Word History and Origins

Origin of muzzle1

1350–1400; Middle English musel < Middle French < Medieval Latin mūsellum, diminutive of mūsum snout < ?
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Word History and Origins

Origin of muzzle1

C15 mosel, from Old French musel, diminutive of muse snout, from Medieval Latin mūsus, of unknown origin
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Example Sentences

My owner was horrified, and he took off the muzzle, and I am sure he felt awful that he put me through such a dreadful ordeal.

Then, five minutes later, I was outside with no muzzle eating cicadas.

The mask my mother-in-law puts on the dog statue outside her front door keeps getting ripped from his muzzle.

The wild grass beyond his muzzle looked parched enough to burst into flames if you glanced at it wrong.

I was trying to invent a kid-friendly mask that wouldn’t easily slip off little ears and I accidentally created a cotton muzzle.

Control Room Sook Shoot Out -- some editorial changes and some VFX muzzle flashes.

Biden is such a straight shooter that pundits say he needs a muzzle.

Suddenly, the darkness came alive with muzzle flashes and tracer rounds.

The result of the back-and-forth was guaranteed national publicity for the very ideas the politicians wanted to muzzle.

He pointed the muzzle at Jones and pulled the trigger, shooting him in the head with a fatally real bullet.

He turned at the sound of my voice with vastly more concern than he'd betrayed under the muzzle of Piegan's gun.

It was a hippopotamus which had been standing on the river-brink within six yards of the muzzle of his gun.

The gunner's seat moved with the carriage, from which he could elevate or depress the muzzle by a lever.

Then, lifting its head and muzzle to the sky, it opened its long jaws and gave vent to a dismal and prolonged howling.

He laughed, stooped over Black Hood, pressed the muzzle of his gun to the manhunter's forehead.

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