| 释义 |
ˈmouthpiece, ˈmouth-piece
1. a. A piece placed at or forming the mouth (of a receptacle, organ-pipe, tool, and the like).
1683Moxon Mech. Exerc., Printing xv. ⁋6 Letter-Founders call this altogether a Mouth-Piece. 1832G. R. Porter Porcelain & Gl. i. v. 59 These openings [for fuel] are provided with mouth pieces of plate iron. 1855Hopkins Organ xviii. 83 Reed or tongue pipes are..those which are made to sound through the medium of a mouth-piece. 1893Labour Commission Gloss., Mouth-pieces, castings fixed on the open ends of ‘retorts’ [in gas-making]... The term is also applied to the pipes conveying the gas from the retorts.
b. The part of a telephone into which one speaks.
1888Encycl. Brit. XXIII. 131/1 The [Reis telephone] receiver consists of an electromagnet made up of a magnetized coil.., with a stout knitting needle for a core. When in use these two instruments are joined in circuit with a battery.., so that under ordinary circumstances a continuous current is flowing through the line. Suppose a sound is then produced in front of the mouthpiece.., the successive variations in the pressure of the air are communicated to the inside of the box, and cause the membrane to vibrate in unison with the sound. 1907Sears, Roebuck Catal. 204/2 Telephone mouthpieces. Male or female thread. 1926T. E. Lawrence Seven Pillars (1935) i. viii. 71 Abdulla went to the telephone..and transferred the mouthpiece to Storrs. 1941[see intercom]. 1955W. Gaddis Recognitions ii. v. 509 He turned quickly into the other telephone booth, dialed and stood bent rigid before the mouthpiece.
2. a. joc. Used for mouth (cf. headpiece). b. The part (of a model) representing the mouth.
1738Swift Pol. Conversat. 41 You have made a fine speech, Colonel. Pray, what will you take for your Mouthpiece? 1831Brewster Nat. Magic viii. (1833) 209 To the mouth-piece was added a nose made of two tin tubes.
3. Something to put in the mouth.
a. That part of a musical instrument, a pipe, etc., which is placed between the lips, usually adjustable and of a material agreeable to the mouth, as silver, amber, etc. Also, a tube by which a cigar or cigarette is held in the mouth.
1776Burney Hist. Mus. I. 279 This contrivance..left only a small aperture between the lips, just sufficient to receive the mouth-piece of the flute. 1857W. Collins Dead Secret iii. i, His lips began to work round the mouth-piece of the pipe. 1876Smoker's Guide v. 61 For our part, to smoke a cigar through a mouthpiece is equivalent to kissing a lady through a respirator. 1896Allbutt's Syst. Med. I. 414 To..allow the child to suck the mixture from the sterilising bottle fitted with a mouth-piece.
b. That part of a bit which crosses the horse's mouth.
1727–51Chambers Cycl. s.v. Bit, The several parts of a snaffle or curb-bit are—the mouth-piece, the cheeks [etc.]. 1833Regul. Instr. Cavalry i. 83 Each regiment should have a few bits with different and easy mouth-pieces and curbs. 1897J. L. Allen Choir Invisible xiii. 197 Her face concealed by a black velvet riding-mask kept in place by a silver mouth-piece held between her teeth.
4. a. One who voices the sentiments, opinions, etc., of (a party); one who speaks on behalf of (another or others); one who gives official or public expression to (common opinion or sentiment); a spokesman.
1805Southey Madoc in W. viii, They look'd Toward their chief and mouth-piece, the High Priest Tezozomoc. 1818Cobbett Pol. Reg. XXXIII. 64 The thing called the Cabinet is nothing more than the mouth-piece of the Boroughmongers. 1874Green Short Hist. viii. §9. 557 The popular discontent at once found a mouthpiece in John Lilburne.
b. slang. A solicitor.
1857‘Ducange Anglicus’ Vulgar Tongue 13 Mouthpiece,..counsel. 1883Greenwood Odd People (1888) 18 It was for the benefit of a man..who was ‘in trouble’..to ‘procure him a mouthpiece’,—which..is another word for a defending counsel among those sort of characters. 1914[see fixer 1]. 1926E. Wallace More Educated Evans iv. 91 Mouthpiece!.. Why, all these so-and-so lawyers hang together. 1931[see bottle n.2 1 g (a)]. 1960L. Cooper Accomplices iii. iii. 164 I'm an Australian citizen and I know my rights and I want to see my mouthpiece before I say any more. 1974‘P. B. Yuill’ Hazell plays Solomon xii. 144 The Abreys would get legal aid. The state would fix them up with a good mouthpiece.
5. A protector for the mouth; a respirator.
1884Health Exhib. Catal. 129/1 Mouthpiece for unhealthy and poisonous trades. |