A device placed over an animal's nose and mouth to prevent biting; the front part of an animal's face; to prevent someone from speaking freely.
From Old French 'musel' related to 'muse' (nose). First used in English in the 1300s for the animal device. The figurative sense of silencing someone emerged by the 1600s.
Dogs have incredibly sensitive muzzles—their noses contain up to 300 million olfactory receptors compared to your paltry 5-6 million, which is why a dog's muzzle being covered is genuinely distressing, not just uncomfortable.
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