moustache
nouncommon in dialogue
- United Kingdom//məˈstɑːʃ//
- United Kingdom//məˈstɒʃ//
- United States//ˈmʌstæʃ//
- United States//məˈstæʃ//
- //məˈstæʃ//
A growth of facial hair between the nose and the upper lip.
noun
- 1
A growth of facial hair between the nose and the upper lip.
A moment later there entered a tall thin Englishman with a great moustache, which was a rare thing amid that clean-shaven race.
“A tight little craft,” was Austin’s invariable comment on the matron;[…]. ¶ Near her wandered her husband, orientally bland, invariably affable, and from time to time squinting sideways, as usual, in the ever-renewed expectation that he might catch a glimpse of his stiff, retroussé moustache.
A hint of the truth broke on him after Sedan, when he saw the dyed moustaches of Napoleon going grey; another when he entered Paris, and saw the smashed windows of the Tuileries.
Ivan, the confidential man with the scar and the moustaches, came out of the house like a cannon ball, and came racing across the lawn to Valentin like a dog to his master.
- 2
informalA curly bracket, { or }.
In this example, the first is a string of text that contains the name property in double curly brackets (or “mustaches”)—this is the syntax for a tag.
Etymology
Used in English since the 16th century. From Middle French moustache from Italian mostaccio, from Early Medieval Latin mustācium, from Byzantine Greek μουστάκιον (moustákion), diminutive of (Doric) Ancient Greek μύσταξ (mústax, “upper lip”), of unknown origin (probably a Pre-Greek substrate). Replaced native English kemp (“moustache”), from Old English cenep.
Forms
- plural
- moustaches
moustache · A growth of facial hair between the nose and the upper lip.
mouth · The front opening of a creature through which food is…mouthful · The amount that will fit in a mouth.mouthing · The act of forming a shape with the mouth.