Nearby Words
verb (used with object), -mouthed, -mouth·ing.
Slang. to speak critically and often disloyally of; disparage: Why do you bad-mouth your family so much?
Also, bad·mouth.
Origin:
1935–40; originally a curse, spell (the sense recorded in Gullah); compare Vai (Mande language of Liberia and Sierra Leone) dà nyà mà curse, literally, bad mouth
1935–40; originally a curse, spell (the sense recorded in Gullah); compare Vai (Mande language of Liberia and Sierra Leone) dà nyà mà curse, literally, bad mouth
Related forms
bad-mouth·er, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Bad-mouth
is one of our favorite verbs.
So is hornswoggle. Does it mean:
| to swindle, cheat, hoodwink, or hoax. |
| to bark; yelp. |
Collins
World English Dictionary
| bad-mouth | |
| —vb | |
| slang (tr) to speak unfavourably about | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
bad-mouth
"abuse someone verbally," 1941, probably ultimately from noun phrase bad mouth (1835), in black Eng., "a curse, spell," translating an idiom found in African and West Indian languages.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Slang Dictionary
bad-mouth definition
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Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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