Definition of "rictus"

rictus

/ˈɹɪk.təs/

noun
plural rictus or rictuses
1. A bird's gaping mouth.
2. The throat of a calyx.
3. Any open-mouthed expression.
  Quotations
  Amid a thick, bristling beard, a nose like an owl's beak and a mouth whose corners were drawn by a wild-beast-like rictus were just discernible.
  1899, Victor Hugo, translated by Paul Maurice, The Memoirs of Victor Hugo
  A rictus of cruel malignity lit up greyly their old bony faces.
  1916, James Joyce, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
  Sword and shield, bone and steel / Rictus grin / Deaf forever to the battle's din
  1986, “Deaf Forever”, performed by Motörhead
  Valves plugs pumps to erase/ rictus from my face.
  1990, “Nothingface”, performed by Voivod
  The absolute incarnation of evil, Adolf Hitler, lies at your feet in a pool of his own blood. His wrinkled, crimson-splattered visage still strains, a jagged-toothed rictus trying to cry out. Insane even in death. Your lips pinched in bitter victory, you kick his head off his remains and spit on his corpse.
  1993, Wolfenstein 3D, scene: after defeating Hitler (episode 3), level/area: 9
  It squinted at her through the hated light, its brow a rictus of pain and fear.
  2001, Eoin Colfer, Artemis Fowl, page 56
  The apprentice watched his Master, pain twisting his features into a rictus.
  2008, Sean Williams, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, page 81