mouthful

mouthful — noun

1. a single bite of food or sip of a drink — the amount your mouth can comfortably

1.nounB1
Definition

a single bite of food or sip of a drink — the amount your mouth can comfortably hold at one time.

Example

Lara took a mouthful of the hot soup and burned her tongue.

collocation: take a mouthful of [hot food/liquid]

Ishaan chewed each mouthful of steak slowly before swallowing.

collocation: chew each mouthful of [food]

Common collocations
  • take a mouthful of
  • have a mouthful of
  • a mouthful of [food/drink]
  • in one mouthful
  • chew each mouthful
Synonyms
  • bite

    only for solid food that you bite off with your teeth; not used for liquids

  • sip

    only for liquids taken through the lips, usually in small amounts

  • gulp

    a large, quick swallow, often suggesting eagerness or thirst

  • swallow

    the action of moving food or drink down the throat, not a measured quantity

Grammar Patterns

a mouthful of [food/drink]

take/have a mouthful of [food/drink]

Usage Note

Commonly paired with take, have, or swallow. Works for both food (a mouthful of bread) and drink (a mouthful of wine).

Common Mistakes

I drunk a mouthful of water.
I took a mouthful of water.
The verb 'drink' already describes the action; use 'take' or 'have' with 'mouthful' as the object.

2. a long or complicated expression that is not easy to say, usually because it has

2.nounB2
Definition

a long or complicated expression that is not easy to say, usually because it has many syllables or unusual combinations of sounds.

Example

His full name is a real mouthful, so everyone just calls him Dr. Lee.

The chemical term 'polytetrafluoroethylene' is quite a mouthful for most students.

pattern: quite a mouthful

Common collocations
  • be a mouthful
  • quite a mouthful
  • a real mouthful
  • a mouthful of a [noun]
  • too much of a mouthful
Synonyms
  • tongue-twister

    specifically a phrase that is very hard to say quickly and correctly; stronger and more playful than mouthful

  • jawbreaker

    an informal term for a very long, hard-to-pronounce word; suggests the word itself is a challenge

Grammar Patterns

be a mouthful

quite a mouthful

Usage Note

Usually singular and used after 'be' in informal contexts: 'That word is a mouthful.' or 'It is quite a mouthful.'

Common Mistakes

Antidisestablishmentarianism is a mouthful word.
Antidisestablishmentarianism is a mouthful.
'Mouthful' is a noun, not an adjective. You describe something as 'a mouthful', not 'a mouthful word'.

3. a very small quantity of food or drink, often less than you would normally take

3.nounB1
Definition

a very small quantity of food or drink, often less than you would normally take in one bite or sip.

Example

The old woman ate only a mouthful of rice before pushing her plate away.

collocation: only a mouthful of [food] (small quantity)

Defne managed just a mouthful of breakfast before rushing out the door.

collocation: just a mouthful of [food]

Common collocations
  • only a mouthful of
  • just a mouthful of
  • barely a mouthful
  • manage a mouthful of
Synonyms
  • tiny bit

    more general and can apply to non-food contexts too

  • drop

    only for liquids and very small amounts; suggests less than a full sip

  • crumb

    only for solid food, specifically a tiny broken-off piece

Antonyms
  • feast

    a large, plentiful meal — the opposite in terms of quantity

Grammar Patterns

a mouthful of [food/drink]

just/only a mouthful

Usage Note

Emphasises smallness — the speaker is often surprised or disappointed by how little was eaten or drunk. Contrast with sense 1, which focuses on capacity (how much fits in the mouth), not quantity.

Common Mistakes

She only ate a mouthful of salad — it was delicious, so she had three portions.
She ate just a mouthful of salad, but it was so delicious that she had three portions.
'A mouthful' (sense 3) means a small quantity, so it contradicts a following statement about eating a large amount. Use it consistently to signal a small amount.
Idioms

give somebody a mouthful

idiom

To shout at someone in an angry way, often using rude words.

The coach gave the player a mouthful after the bad tackle.

Did your boss give you a mouthful for being late again?

say a mouthful

idiom

To say something that is very true or important.

When Maya said the project was too risky, she said a mouthful.

You said a mouthful about the need for better communication.

Word family

  • mouth
    nounA1

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Bite, sip, gulp, swallow, and mouthful all relate to consuming food or drink, but each focuses on a different aspect. A bite is the amount of solid food you break off with your teeth — you take a bite of an apple, not a bite of soup. A sip is a small amount of liquid taken through the lips, typically from a hot or carefully handled drink. A gulp is a larger, faster swallowing action, often driven by thirst or eagerness. Swallow is the physical act of moving contents down the throat, not a measured portion — you can swallow a mouthful, a sip, or a gulp. Mouthful is the most neutral and versatile: it refers to whatever amount fits comfortably in your mouth at one time, whether a piece of food or a swallow of drink. For example, you can say 'a mouthful of soup' but not 'a bite of soup'; you can say 'a gulp of wine' but a gulp suggests haste while a mouthful is simply one full load of the mouth.

bite ↗sip ↗gulpswallow ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

  • quite a mouthful
  • a real mouthful
  • be a mouthful
  • too much of a mouthful
  • in one mouthful

Prepositions

Etymology

Old EnglishEnglish

Mouthful comes from Old English 'muþfull', a combination of 'muþ' (mouth) and 'full' (full). It originally described the amount that fills the mouth. By the 19th century, the meaning had stretched to include long, difficult-to-pronounce words — a figurative use based on the idea that such a word 'fills your mouth' as you struggle to say it.