Mouthful vs Gulp - What's the difference?
mouthful | gulp |
The amount that will fit in a mouth.
* He swallowed a mouthful of sea water when he fell in.
(slang) Quite a bit.
* {{quote-book
, year=1960
, author=
, title=(Jeeves in the Offing)
, section=chapter VII
, passage=“Unquestionably his metabolism is unduly susceptible to stresses resulting from the interaction of external excitations,” he said, and Bobbie patted him on the shoulder in a maternal sort of way, a thing I wouldn't have cared to do myself though our relations were, as I have indicated, more cordial than they had been at one time, and told him he had said a mouthful .}}
Something difficult to pronounce or say.
* "She sells sea shells" is a bit of a mouthful to say.
* {{quote-book
, year=1960
, author=
, title=(Jeeves in the Offing)
, section=chapter X
, passage=“Yes, you may leave this little matter entirely to me, Mr Wooster.” “I wish you'd call me Bertie.” “Certainly, certainly.” “And might I call you Roderick?” “I shall be delighted.” “Or Roddy? Roderick's rather a mouthful .” “Whichever you prefer.”}}
* 2010 , Alexander Irvine, Iron Man 2: The Junior Novel , page 77
A tirade of abusive language (especially in the term "give someone a mouthful")
The usual amount swallowed.
* 1898 , , (Moonfleet) Chapter 4
The sound of swallowing.
A sound of swallowing indicating fear.
*
* 1994 , James Charles Collins, Jerry I. Porras, Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies
To swallow eagerly, or in large draughts; to swallow up; to take down at one swallow.
* Cowper
* Fielding
To react nervously by swallowing.
* 1930 , P. G. Wodehouse, A Damsel in Distress , 2004, page 198
* 2003 , Carl Deuker, High Heat , page 140
* 2006 , Nancy Anne Nicholson, Thin White Female in No Acute Distress: A Memoir , page 187
Indication of an involuntary fear reaction.
* 1982 , Gary Smalley, If Only He Knew , page 163
As nouns the difference between mouthful and gulp
is that mouthful is the amount that will fit in a mouth while gulp is the usual amount swallowed.As a verb gulp is
to swallow eagerly, or in large draughts; to swallow up; to take down at one swallow.As an interjection gulp is
indication of an involuntary fear reaction.mouthful
English
Noun
(en-noun)- "Tony, I'm the executive director of S.H.I.E.L.D., the Strategic Homeland Intelligence, Enforcement, and Logistics Division," explained Fury.
Tony nodded. "Want a tip? Fire your namer of things, because that's a mouthful ."
Synonyms
* (quantity of liquid) See alsogulp
English
Noun
(en noun)- What the liquor was I do not know, but it was not so strong but that I could swallow it in great gulps and found it less burning than my burning throat.
- Little Stanislovas was also trembling, and all but too frightened to speak. "They — they sent me to tell you — " he said, with a gulp .
- Indeed, the envisioned future should produce a bit of "the gulp' factor" […], there should be an almost audible "' gulp ".
Verb
(en verb)- He does not swallow, but he gulps it down.
- The old man glibly gulped down the whole narrative.
- The man eyed Percy with a chilly eye. "Well," he said, "What's troublin you?" Percy gulped . The man's mere appearance was a sedative. "Er-nothing! […]"
- I'd always been nervous-excited; this was nervous-terrified. When I finished puking, I sat down gulping air for a while, trying to pull myself together.
- My heart was beating madly and I was gulping nervous energy.
Synonyms
* See alsoInterjection
(en interjection)- "Honey, I know you want to go to their home next week, hut there's one thing that keeps happening when we're together that really drives me away from social gatherings in general. (Oh, what is it … gulp'.) Well, I'm not sure I can really explain it without offending you. ('''Gulp''', ' gulp .) Do you really want to talk about it? (Yes.) […]"
