poor mouth: Meaning and Definition of

poor' mouth"

Pronunciation: [key]
— Informal. Informal.
  1. a person who continually complains about a lack of money.
  2. a plea or complaint of poverty, often as an excuse for not contributing to charities, paying bills, etc.
  3. to complain, esp. habitually, about a lack of money.

poor-mouth

Pronunciation: (poor'mouth"), [key]
— v., -mouthed -mouth•ing.
—v.i.
  1. to lament or argue that one is too poor; plead poverty.
—v.t.
  1. to declare (one's ability, power, position, etc.) to be inadequate or disappointing, sometimes as an intentional understatement; downplay: We know you're just poor-mouthing your skill at playing bridge—you're a good player.
  2. bad-mouth.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.