smash-mouth

See also: smashmouth

English

Alternative forms

• smashmouth

Etymology

Originating in American football.

Adjective

smash-mouth (comparative more smash-mouth, superlative most smash-mouth)

1. Violent; aggressive; vigorous.
   • 1984: Newsweek.

     Wacker says his team, the Horned Frogs, plays "smash-mouth football." He means that his lads are (as less poetic coaches are wont to say) "physical," meaning vigorous.

   • 1986: TIME.

     Penn State quickly scored the first touchdown against Oklahoma, showing roughly what Switzer meant when he called State "a physical, smash-mouth type of ball club" that "splatters you."

   • 2017: Conscience of a Conservative by Jeff Flake, p. 15

     For the record, I was not at all angry. I did want to talk about what conservatives stand for beyond the smashmouth politics that sometimes dominates campaigns.