"watch one's mouth" meaning in English

See watch one's mouth in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Verb

Audio: En-au-watch one's mouth.ogg Forms: watches one's mouth [present, singular, third-person], watching one's mouth [participle, present], watched one's mouth [participle, past], watched one's mouth [past]
Head templates: {{en-verb|*}} watch one's mouth (third-person singular simple present watches one's mouth, present participle watching one's mouth, simple past and past participle watched one's mouth)
  1. (idiomatic, US) To be careful about what one says, especially with regard to disrespectful or profane language. Tags: US, idiomatic Translations (to be careful about what one says): ağzının danışığnı bilmək (Azerbaijani), varoa sanojaan (english: be careful about what one says) (Finnish), ei puhua rumia (english: profanity) (Finnish), olla puhumatta rumia (english: profanity) (Finnish), surveiller son langage (French), faire attention à ce qu’on dit (French), aufpassen, was man sagt (German), nicht in diesem Ton reden (German), auf seine Ausdrucksweise achten [formal] (German), vigyáz a szájára (Hungarian), fare attenzione a quello che si dice (Italian), cucirsi la bocca (Italian), liczyć się ze słowami [imperfective] (Polish), prestar atenção ao que diz (Portuguese), medir as palavras (Portuguese), vorbi frumos (Romanian), avea grijă la limbaj (Romanian), vedea la limbaj (Romanian), vedea cum vorbește (cineva) (Romanian), avea grijă cum vorbește (cineva) (Romanian), vedea ce vorbește (cineva) (Romanian), avea grijă ce zice (cineva) (Romanian), vedea ce zice (cineva) (Romanian), следи́ть за языко́м (sledítʹ za jazykóm) (Russian), следи́ть за база́ром (sledítʹ za bazárom) (english: criminal connotation) [vulgar] (Russian), vårda språket (Swedish)
    Sense id: en-watch_one's_mouth-en-verb-F5WBqJ4l Categories (other): American English, English predicates Disambiguation of English predicates: 54 46 Disambiguation of 'to be careful about what one says': 96 4
  2. (idiomatic, chiefly US) In the imperative form, used as a warning to choose one's words carefully or else be silent, for fear of consequences. Tags: US, idiomatic Synonyms: language, watch one's language, watch one's tongue Translations (watch your mouth! (imperative)): olha a boca (Portuguese), cuida tu boca (Spanish)
    Sense id: en-watch_one's_mouth-en-verb-qablVdyl Categories (other): American English, English entries with incorrect language header, English predicates, Entries with translation boxes, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Terms with Azerbaijani translations, Terms with Finnish translations, Terms with French translations, Terms with German translations, Terms with Hungarian translations, Terms with Italian translations, Terms with Polish translations, Terms with Portuguese translations, Terms with Romanian translations, Terms with Russian translations, Terms with Spanish translations, Terms with Swedish translations Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 37 63 Disambiguation of English predicates: 54 46 Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 18 82 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 22 78 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 19 81 Disambiguation of Terms with Azerbaijani translations: 39 61 Disambiguation of Terms with Finnish translations: 36 64 Disambiguation of Terms with French translations: 28 72 Disambiguation of Terms with German translations: 26 74 Disambiguation of Terms with Hungarian translations: 34 66 Disambiguation of Terms with Italian translations: 24 76 Disambiguation of Terms with Polish translations: 37 63 Disambiguation of Terms with Portuguese translations: 39 61 Disambiguation of Terms with Romanian translations: 36 64 Disambiguation of Terms with Russian translations: 24 76 Disambiguation of Terms with Spanish translations: 23 77 Disambiguation of Terms with Swedish translations: 37 63 Disambiguation of 'watch your mouth! (imperative)': 4 96

Inflected forms

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "watches one's mouth",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "watching one's mouth",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "watched one's mouth",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "watched one's mouth",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*"
      },
      "expansion": "watch one's mouth (third-person singular simple present watches one's mouth, present participle watching one's mouth, simple past and past participle watched one's mouth)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "American English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "54 46",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English predicates",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "You really need to watch your mouth. You're a teacher now!",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To be careful about what one says, especially with regard to disrespectful or profane language."
      ],
      "id": "en-watch_one's_mouth-en-verb-F5WBqJ4l",
      "links": [
        [
          "careful",
          "careful"
        ],
        [
          "disrespectful",
          "disrespectful"
        ],
        [
          "profane",
          "profane"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic, US) To be careful about what one says, especially with regard to disrespectful or profane language."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US",
        "idiomatic"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "96 4",
          "code": "az",
          "lang": "Azerbaijani",
          "sense": "to be careful about what one says",
          "word": "ağzının danışığnı bilmək"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "96 4",
          "code": "fi",
          "english": "be careful about what one says",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "to be careful about what one says",
          "word": "varoa sanojaan"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "96 4",
          "code": "fi",
          "english": "profanity",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "to be careful about what one says",
          "word": "ei puhua rumia"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "96 4",
          "code": "fi",
          "english": "profanity",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "to be careful about what one says",
          "word": "olla puhumatta rumia"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "96 4",
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "to be careful about what one says",
          "word": "surveiller son langage"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "96 4",
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "to be careful about what one says",
          "word": "faire attention à ce qu’on dit"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "96 4",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "to be careful about what one says",
          "word": "aufpassen, was man sagt"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "96 4",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "to be careful about what one says",
          "word": "nicht in diesem Ton reden"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "96 4",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "to be careful about what one says",
          "tags": [
            "formal"
          ],
          "word": "auf seine Ausdrucksweise achten"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "96 4",
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "to be careful about what one says",
          "word": "vigyáz a szájára"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "96 4",
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "to be careful about what one says",
          "word": "fare attenzione a quello che si dice"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "96 4",
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "to be careful about what one says",
          "word": "cucirsi la bocca"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "96 4",
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "to be careful about what one says",
          "tags": [
            "imperfective"
          ],
          "word": "liczyć się ze słowami"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "96 4",
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "to be careful about what one says",
          "word": "prestar atenção ao que diz"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "96 4",
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "to be careful about what one says",
          "word": "medir as palavras"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "96 4",
          "code": "ro",
          "lang": "Romanian",
          "sense": "to be careful about what one says",
          "word": "vorbi frumos"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "96 4",
          "code": "ro",
          "lang": "Romanian",
          "sense": "to be careful about what one says",
          "word": "avea grijă la limbaj"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "96 4",
          "code": "ro",
          "lang": "Romanian",
          "sense": "to be careful about what one says",
          "word": "vedea la limbaj"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "96 4",
          "code": "ro",
          "lang": "Romanian",
          "sense": "to be careful about what one says",
          "word": "vedea cum vorbește (cineva)"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "96 4",
          "code": "ro",
          "lang": "Romanian",
          "sense": "to be careful about what one says",
          "word": "avea grijă cum vorbește (cineva)"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "96 4",
          "code": "ro",
          "lang": "Romanian",
          "sense": "to be careful about what one says",
          "word": "vedea ce vorbește (cineva)"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "96 4",
          "code": "ro",
          "lang": "Romanian",
          "sense": "to be careful about what one says",
          "word": "avea grijă ce zice (cineva)"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "96 4",
          "code": "ro",
          "lang": "Romanian",
          "sense": "to be careful about what one says",
          "word": "vedea ce zice (cineva)"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "96 4",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "sledítʹ za jazykóm",
          "sense": "to be careful about what one says",
          "word": "следи́ть за языко́м"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "96 4",
          "code": "ru",
          "english": "criminal connotation",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "sledítʹ za bazárom",
          "sense": "to be careful about what one says",
          "tags": [
            "vulgar"
          ],
          "word": "следи́ть за база́ром"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "96 4",
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "to be careful about what one says",
          "word": "vårda språket"
        }
      ]
    },
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          "_dis": "37 63",
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            "Entry maintenance"
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          "_dis": "39 61",
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          "_dis": "36 64",
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          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
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        {
          "_dis": "28 72",
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        {
          "_dis": "26 74",
          "kind": "other",
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          "parents": [],
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        {
          "_dis": "34 66",
          "kind": "other",
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          "parents": [],
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          "_dis": "24 76",
          "kind": "other",
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          "parents": [],
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          "_dis": "37 63",
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          "_dis": "39 61",
          "kind": "other",
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          "_dis": "36 64",
          "kind": "other",
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          "_dis": "24 76",
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        },
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          "_dis": "37 63",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Swedish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Hey. Watch your mouth. Don't you realize who's listening?",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2012, Terese Pampellonne, The Unwelcome Child:",
          "text": "You watch your mouth, sis. I may be old, but I can still knock the stars out of the sky for you.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "In the imperative form, used as a warning to choose one's words carefully or else be silent, for fear of consequences."
      ],
      "id": "en-watch_one's_mouth-en-verb-qablVdyl",
      "links": [
        [
          "warning",
          "warning#English"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic, chiefly US) In the imperative form, used as a warning to choose one's words carefully or else be silent, for fear of consequences."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "language"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "26 74",
          "word": "watch one's language"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "26 74",
          "word": "watch one's tongue"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US",
        "idiomatic"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "4 96",
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "watch your mouth! (imperative)",
          "word": "olha a boca"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "4 96",
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "watch your mouth! (imperative)",
          "word": "cuida tu boca"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-watch one's mouth.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/3/36/En-au-watch_one%27s_mouth.ogg/En-au-watch_one%27s_mouth.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/36/En-au-watch_one%27s_mouth.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "word": "watch one's mouth"
}
{
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    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English predicates",
    "English verbs",
    "Entries with translation boxes",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Terms with Azerbaijani translations",
    "Terms with Finnish translations",
    "Terms with French translations",
    "Terms with German translations",
    "Terms with Hungarian translations",
    "Terms with Italian translations",
    "Terms with Polish translations",
    "Terms with Portuguese translations",
    "Terms with Romanian translations",
    "Terms with Russian translations",
    "Terms with Spanish translations",
    "Terms with Swedish translations"
  ],
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "watches one's mouth",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "watching one's mouth",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "watched one's mouth",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "watched one's mouth",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*"
      },
      "expansion": "watch one's mouth (third-person singular simple present watches one's mouth, present participle watching one's mouth, simple past and past participle watched one's mouth)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "American English",
        "English idioms",
        "English terms with usage examples"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "You really need to watch your mouth. You're a teacher now!",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To be careful about what one says, especially with regard to disrespectful or profane language."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "careful",
          "careful"
        ],
        [
          "disrespectful",
          "disrespectful"
        ],
        [
          "profane",
          "profane"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic, US) To be careful about what one says, especially with regard to disrespectful or profane language."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US",
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "American English",
        "English idioms",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English terms with usage examples"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Hey. Watch your mouth. Don't you realize who's listening?",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2012, Terese Pampellonne, The Unwelcome Child:",
          "text": "You watch your mouth, sis. I may be old, but I can still knock the stars out of the sky for you.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "In the imperative form, used as a warning to choose one's words carefully or else be silent, for fear of consequences."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "warning",
          "warning#English"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic, chiefly US) In the imperative form, used as a warning to choose one's words carefully or else be silent, for fear of consequences."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "language"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US",
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
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  "sounds": [
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  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "watch one's language"
    },
    {
      "word": "watch one's tongue"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "az",
      "lang": "Azerbaijani",
      "sense": "to be careful about what one says",
      "word": "ağzının danışığnı bilmək"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "english": "be careful about what one says",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "to be careful about what one says",
      "word": "varoa sanojaan"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "english": "profanity",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "to be careful about what one says",
      "word": "ei puhua rumia"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "english": "profanity",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "to be careful about what one says",
      "word": "olla puhumatta rumia"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "to be careful about what one says",
      "word": "surveiller son langage"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "to be careful about what one says",
      "word": "faire attention à ce qu’on dit"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "to be careful about what one says",
      "word": "aufpassen, was man sagt"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "to be careful about what one says",
      "word": "nicht in diesem Ton reden"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "to be careful about what one says",
      "tags": [
        "formal"
      ],
      "word": "auf seine Ausdrucksweise achten"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "to be careful about what one says",
      "word": "vigyáz a szájára"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "to be careful about what one says",
      "word": "fare attenzione a quello che si dice"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "to be careful about what one says",
      "word": "cucirsi la bocca"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "to be careful about what one says",
      "tags": [
        "imperfective"
      ],
      "word": "liczyć się ze słowami"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "to be careful about what one says",
      "word": "prestar atenção ao que diz"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "to be careful about what one says",
      "word": "medir as palavras"
    },
    {
      "code": "ro",
      "lang": "Romanian",
      "sense": "to be careful about what one says",
      "word": "vorbi frumos"
    },
    {
      "code": "ro",
      "lang": "Romanian",
      "sense": "to be careful about what one says",
      "word": "avea grijă la limbaj"
    },
    {
      "code": "ro",
      "lang": "Romanian",
      "sense": "to be careful about what one says",
      "word": "vedea la limbaj"
    },
    {
      "code": "ro",
      "lang": "Romanian",
      "sense": "to be careful about what one says",
      "word": "vedea cum vorbește (cineva)"
    },
    {
      "code": "ro",
      "lang": "Romanian",
      "sense": "to be careful about what one says",
      "word": "avea grijă cum vorbește (cineva)"
    },
    {
      "code": "ro",
      "lang": "Romanian",
      "sense": "to be careful about what one says",
      "word": "vedea ce vorbește (cineva)"
    },
    {
      "code": "ro",
      "lang": "Romanian",
      "sense": "to be careful about what one says",
      "word": "avea grijă ce zice (cineva)"
    },
    {
      "code": "ro",
      "lang": "Romanian",
      "sense": "to be careful about what one says",
      "word": "vedea ce zice (cineva)"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "sledítʹ za jazykóm",
      "sense": "to be careful about what one says",
      "word": "следи́ть за языко́м"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "english": "criminal connotation",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "sledítʹ za bazárom",
      "sense": "to be careful about what one says",
      "tags": [
        "vulgar"
      ],
      "word": "следи́ть за база́ром"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "to be careful about what one says",
      "word": "vårda språket"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "watch your mouth! (imperative)",
      "word": "olha a boca"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "watch your mouth! (imperative)",
      "word": "cuida tu boca"
    }
  ],
  "word": "watch one's mouth"
}

Download raw JSONL data for watch one's mouth meaning in English (6.4kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-03-01 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-02-21 using wiktextract (7c21d10 and f2e72e5). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.