wry-mouth
(ˈraɪmaʊθ)
[f. wry a. 1, 1 b + mouth n.]
† 1. (See quot. 1859.) Obs.
| 1661 Lovell Hist. Anim. & Min. 29 The gall of a wild Cat is very good against the wry mouth. 1859 Mayne Expos. Lex. 1283 Tortura,..formerly used for Spasmus, chiefly of a part, as of the face or the mouth; wry-mouth. |
2. a. attrib. = wry-mouthed a. 1. Also ellipt.
| 1652 Benlowes Theoph. viii. lxxxiv, No wry-mouth squint-ey'd scoff can stay Their swift progression. 1655 Gayton Bagnal's Ghost 3 Thick Ling and wry mouth Plaise. 1881 E. P. Hood Christmas Evans iv. 120 Of wry-mouth fiends a wrathful brood. |
b. One who has a distorted mouth.
| 1840 Penny Cycl. XVIII. 316/1 [It] had fallen into disuse since the death of Boleslav the Wry-mouth. |
3. U.S. a. One or other fish belonging to the genus Cryptacanthodes of blennioid fishes, and native to the north-western Atlantic. b. The electric ray or torpedo (Cent. Dict. 1891).
| 1844 Amer. Jrnl. Sci. XLVII. 60 Cryptacanthodes maculatus, Storer, Spotted Wry-mouth. 1890 Science April 212/1 The sea-raven, the rock-eel, and the wry-mouth, which inhabit these brilliant groves, are all colored to match their surroundings. |