debouch

verb

de·bouch di-ˈbau̇ch

-ˈbüsh

dē-

debouched; debouching; debouches

transitive verb

: to cause to emerge : discharge

intransitive verb

: to march out into open ground

troops debouching from the town

: emerge, issue

rivers debouching into the sea

debouchment

di-ˈbau̇ch-mənt

-ˈbüsh-

dē-

noun

Did you know?

Debouch first appeared in English in the 18th century. It derives from a French verb formed from the prefix de- ("from") and the noun bouche ("mouth"), which itself derives ultimately from the Latin bucca ("cheek"). Debouch is often used in military contexts to refer to the action of troops proceeding from a closed space to an open one. It is also used frequently to refer to the emergence of anything from a mouth, such as water passing through the mouth of a river into an ocean. The word's ancestors have also given English the adjective buccal ("of or relating to the mouth") and the noun embouchure (the mouthpiece of a musical instrument or the position of the mouth when playing one).