jowl

/dʒaʊl/

/dʒaʊl/

Other forms: jowls

Jowls are excess flesh around the jaw and cheeks that tends to grow as people get older. The jowl is also the lower jaw, which is hinged so the mouth can open, in vertebrates.

The two meanings of jowl both relate to the jaw. In some cases, jowl literally means jaw, as in the hinged lower jaw of vertebrates. Without a jowl, you wouldn't be able to open your mouth. The jowl can also be called the jawbone, lower jawbone, mandible, or submaxilla. The other kind of jowl — usually called jowls — are loose, fleshy areas around the jaw and lower cheeks. Older people are more likely to have jowls, especially if they are overweight.

Definitions of jowl

1. noun

   a fullness and looseness of the flesh of the lower cheek and jaw (characteristic of aging)
   type of:

   feature, lineament

   the characteristic parts of a person's face: eyes and nose and mouth and chin
2. noun

   the jaw in vertebrates that is hinged to open the mouth
   synonyms: jawbone, lower jaw, lower jawbone, mandible, mandibula, mandibular bone, submaxilla

   types:

   lantern jaw

   a long thin lower jaw

   type of:

   articulator

   a movable speech organ

   jaw

   the part of the skull of a vertebrate that frames the mouth and holds the teeth