A leather or wire covering for the mouth of an animal that prevented it from eating or biting. The command in the Book of Deuteronomy, "You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain" implies that an animal helping with threshing must be allowed to eat some of the grain. The apostle Paul applied this verse symbolically to Christian workers <1 Cor. 9:9-10>.

(from Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary)

(Copyright (C) 1986, Thomas Nelson Publishers)