shove in the mouth

In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.

Sense 1

Meaning · English

A glass of spirits drunk quickly in one go.

Register: slang

Examples

Then he's the most comfortable ghost I ever heard of; for Theodore and I saw him not a week ago taking a shove in the mouth at old Mother Murly's in St. Martin's Lane, with two or three underlings of the gallery about him […]

Usage example from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30)

Sources & notes

Adapted from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30 via kaikki.org).

Sense 2

Meaning · English

a glass of spirits, which is taken off quickly and at once.

Era: ca. 1874 (Victorian)

Where it’s used: Origin British & Irish English
Sources & notes

Historical definition reproduced from Hotten’s The Slang Dictionary (1874, public domain; Project Gutenberg #42108, retrieved 2026-07-31). Reflects the attitudes of its era.

Common questions

What does “shove in the mouth” mean?

A glass of spirits drunk quickly in one go.

Is “shove in the mouth” formal or informal?

shove in the mouth is generally slang.