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Glite Dictionary
cheekful

cheekful

7.9
A mouthful of food or drink held in one cheek
  • noun
  • /ˈtʃikfəl/
  • Archaic
translation icon : bocado
  • "Abe spat a cheekful of black juice onto the pale grass.

Examples

  • After the meal, she had a cheekful of soup in her mouth, savoring the flavors.

  • Abe turned his head away and spat out a cheekful of black tobacco juice.

    Fiction book (1998)

  • "He blew out a cheekful of air and gathered himself.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • He took a cheekful of peanut butter and spread it on his sandwich.

  • With a cheekful of candy, he tried to speak but only managed to mumble.

Synonyms

mouthful
vscheekful
59 1.6

An amount of food or drink you can put in your mouth at once

is the smaller amount that fills only one cheek while held

How Much

mouthful
59 1.6
cheekful
  • Archaic
7.9
sip
165 1.0
drop
349 1.0

Surface Forms

cheekful singular
cheekfuls plural

Morphology

cheekful = cheek (transparent) = cheek + ful

Formed like 'mouthful' or 'handful': an amount that fills the cheek; meaning is directly derived from 'cheek' + '-ful'.

Etymology

Cheekful is made from cheek (the side of your mouth) and the ending -ful meaning 'full of', just like the familiar word mouthful, so it means an amount that fills one cheek. Think of a squirrel stuffing its cheek with nuts; that stuffed cheek is a 'cheekful'.