Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Having the mouth open.
  • adjective Gaping in astonishment or wonder.
  • adjective Loudly insistent.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Having the mouth open.
  • Clamorous; vociferous.
  • Greedy; ravenous; clamoring at the sight of game or prey.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Having the mouth open; gaping; hence, greedy; clamorous.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective obsolete Talkative, speaking freely.
  • adjective With the mouth open.
  • adjective Gaping in surprise, wonder or astonishment.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective with eyes or mouth open in surprise

Etymologies

Sorry, no etymologies found.

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Examples

  • At the end of it all, I realised I had never truly understood the expression open-mouthed until then.

    What's Going On Mark Steel 2009

  • The only missing Fordian set piece is his famous leap from an explosion with one hand in front of his face and his familiar open-mouthed rictus.

    Michael Jones: Cowboys and Aliens Michael Jones 2011

  • Mary McAleese, the Irish president, who was sitting beside the Queen, turned to others at the table open-mouthed, exclaiming "wow".

    Irish eyes are smiling: show of respect turns Queen into runaway favourite 2011

  • All the Marilyns were based on a single, cropped, open-mouthed, glossily-lipsticked ad vivum publicity photograph, but straight away Andy began the process of boiling down the image still further.

    Archive 2009-01-01 2009

  • Others were just watching on from their homes open-mouthed in horror.

    London riots escalate as police battle for control 2011

  • The only missing Fordian set piece is his famous leap from an explosion with one hand in front of his face and his familiar open-mouthed rictus.

    Michael Jones: Cowboys and Aliens Michael Jones 2011

  • Startled, we both stood open-mouthed in the road, unsure of what to say.

    Exit the Actress Priya Parmar 2011

  • Another highlight will be a royal 19th-century statue of an open-mouthed lion, with big teeth, made of silver, gold and brass that comes from the Fon people of Benin estimate: €200,000-€300,000.

    Tribal Art Takes Center Stage Margaret Studer 2011

  • The only missing Fordian set piece is his famous leap from an explosion with one hand in front of his face and his familiar open-mouthed rictus.

    Michael Jones: Cowboys and Aliens Michael Jones 2011

  • This leaves even a fan like me slightly open-mouthed with respect.

    The World Turned Upside Down Larry Miller 2010

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