muzzle

«muzzle» in Mova's school dictionary: the nose and mouth of an animal such as a dog or horse — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 4 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

noun (a muzzle, muzzles); verb (muzzle, muzzles, muzzled, muzzling)

meaning for a pupil

1) A muzzle is the nose and mouth of an animal such as a dog or horse. tree →

2) A muzzle is a cover of straps or wire put over a dog's nose and mouth to stop it biting. tree →

3) The muzzle of a gun is the open end the bullet comes out of. tree →

4) To muzzle someone means to stop them speaking freely. tree →

sense in the lessons

In pet care and safety, some dogs must wear a muzzle in public. In history and news, governments «muzzle» the press when they stop newspapers reporting. Dog breeds have long or short muzzles.

examples

• The dog's muzzle was grey with age. tree →
• Our greyhound wears a muzzle at the park. tree →
• Never point the muzzle of a gun at anyone. tree →
• The horse nuzzled me with its soft muzzle. tree →
• The rulers tried to muzzle the newspapers. tree →
• The vet put a muzzle on the scared dog. tree →
• A solemn-nosed, stern-eyed cow would amble and stamp in his wood to find a flyless shadow; or a strayed sheep would poke its gentle muzzle through leaves. tree →

note

Past: muzzled. A muzzle does not mean a dog is bad — some just get nervous. Do not confuse with «nuzzle» (rub gently with the nose).

In the corpora

• «A broad glistening muzzle showed itself above the edge of the bank, and the Otter hauled himself out».
• Kieran's nan's terrier Mitzi has bitten two people, so she wears a muzzle when visitors come.
• Dogs age faster than people: an old dog sleeps more, moves slowly and often gets grey fur round its muzzle.
• Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the corn.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «muzzle» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.