maw
Noun: 1. The mouth, throat, or jaws of a voracious animal, especially a carnivore. This sense emphasizes the gaping, devouring aspect of an animal's mouth. 2. (Informal or humorous) A person's mouth or stomach, especially when referring to eating or consumption. This usage often carries a slightly crude or humorous tone, comparing a person's mouth to that of a hungry beast. 3. (Archaic) The stomach of an animal, especially a ruminant.
The word "maw" is most commonly used in a figurative or literary context to evoke an image of something large, dark, and devouring. It is not typically used in polite, everyday conversation to refer to a person's mouth.
Referring to an animal's mouth: The rabbit disappeared into the fox's maw. The deep-sea anglerfish lures prey into its enormous maw.
Informal/humorous reference to a person's mouth or appetite: "Shut your maw!" he yelled in frustration. He has a maw like a bottomless pit; he's always eating.
- Figurative Use: "Maw" is often used metaphorically to describe anything that seems to consume or swallow things destructively.
- The city was a gaping maw, swallowing newcomers whole.
- The insatiable maw of war consumes resources and lives.
- Mawworm (noun, archaic): An intestinal worm.
- Mawseed (noun, archaic): Poppy seed.
- Jaws
- Gullet
- Trap (slang for mouth)
- Gob (British slang for mouth)
- Craw (for a bird's throat or crop)
- The maw of hell/death: A powerful metaphor describing a place or situation of utter destruction or oblivion.
- Soldiers were sent into the maw of hell on the battlefield.
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informal terms for the mouth
