lantern jaw
1
8.6
- noun
- /ˈlæn.tɚn dʒɔ/
:
mandíbula prominente
- The punch landed squarely on the warrior's lantern jaw, sending him reeling to the very brink of the pit.
- a man with a lantern jaw
Examples
-
The actor's dramatic features included a prominent lantern jaw that made him stand out on screen.
-
Fenton studied the vacant face across the camp table, the lantern jaw slowly working around a piece of hard cracker.
Fiction book (1999) -
Her skin was no darker than a good tan would produce back in West Texas, but her face was just plain ordinary, with what she considered a lantern jaw and squinty little commonplace brown eyes.
Fiction book (2001) -
White females could retain the lantern jaws, broad shoulders, and other less feminine features because they had cheat codes that made them appear more feminized than they actually are.
Blog text (13) -
With a sharp lantern jaw and thin frame, he was easily recognizable in any crowd.
-
Her lantern jaw gave her a distinctive appearance that many admired.
Synonyms
367
1.0
The part of the lower jaw below the mouth on a person's face
How Prominent
Surface Forms
Morphology
lantern + jaw
The phrase relies on a metaphorical comparison: a learner who knows 'lantern' (a portable light) and 'jaw' will likely infer it's describing a jaw that resembles a lantern in shape, so the basic descriptive intent is recoverable. However, the precise sense 'long, thin, and often prominent lower jaw' is a culturally specific visual comparison and not fully predictable from the constituents, so it is only partially transparent.
Etymology
Lantern jaw may come from a simple picture: an old lantern hanging down is long and narrow, so a person's long, thin lower jaw looked like that. That's why lantern jaw now means a long, thin, and often noticeable 'jaw' or 'chin'.