teeth

[teeth] /tiθ/
noun
1.
plural of tooth.
Related forms
teethless, adjective

tooth

[tooth] /tuθ/
noun, plural teeth.
1.
(in most vertebrates) one of the hard bodies or processes usually attached in a row to each jaw, serving for the prehension and mastication of food, as weapons of attack or defense, etc., and in mammals typically composed chiefly of dentin surrounding a sensitive pulp and covered on the crown with enamel.
2.
(in invertebrates) any of various similar or analogous processes occurring in the mouth or alimentary canal, or on a shell.
3.
any projection resembling or suggesting a tooth.
4.
one of the projections of a comb, rake, saw, etc.
5.
Machinery.
  1. any of the uniform projections on a gear or rack by which it drives, or is driven by, a gear, rack, or worm.
  2. any of the uniform projections on a sprocket by which it drives or is driven by a chain.
6.
Botany.
  1. any small, toothlike marginal lobe.
  2. one of the toothlike divisions of the peristome of mosses.
7.
a sharp, distressing, or destructive attribute or agency.
8.
taste, relish, or liking.
9.
a surface, as on a grinding wheel or sharpening stone, slightly roughened so as to increase friction with another part.
10.
a rough surface created on a paper made for charcoal drawing, watercolor, or the like, or on canvas for oil painting.
verb (used with object), toothed
[tootht, tooth d] /tuθt, tuðd/ (Show IPA), toothing
[too-thing, -th ing] /ˈtu θɪŋ, -ðɪŋ/ (Show IPA)
11.
to furnish with teeth.
12.
to cut teeth upon.
verb (used without object), toothed
[tootht, tooth d] /tuθt, tuðd/ (Show IPA), toothing
[too-thing, -th ing] /ˈtu θɪŋ, -ðɪŋ/ (Show IPA)
13.
to interlock, as cogwheels.
Idioms
14.
by the skin of one's teeth, barely:
He got away by the skin of his teeth.
15.
cast / throw in someone's teeth, to reproach someone for (an action):
History will ever throw this blunder in his teeth.
16.
cut one's teeth on, to do at the beginning of one's education, career, etc., or in one's youth:
The hunter boasted of having cut his teeth on tigers.
17.
in the teeth of,
  1. so as to face or confront; straight into or against:
    in the teeth of the wind.
  2. in defiance of; in opposition to:
    She maintained her stand in the teeth of public opinion.
18.
long in the tooth, old; elderly.
19.
put teeth in / into, to establish or increase the effectiveness of:
to put teeth into the law.
20.
set one's teeth, to become resolute; prepare for difficulty:
He set his teeth and separated the combatants.
21.
set / put one's teeth on edge,
  1. to induce an unpleasant sensation.
  2. to repel; irritate:
    The noise of the machines sets my teeth on edge.
22.
show one's teeth, to become hostile or threatening; exhibit anger:
Usually friendly, she suddenly began to show her teeth.
23.
to the teeth, entirely; fully:
armed to the teeth; dressed to the teeth in furs.
Origin
before 900; Middle English; Old English tōth; cognate with Dutch tand, German Zahn, Old Norse tǫnn; akin to Gothic tunthus, Latin dēns, Greek odoús (Ionic odṓn), Sanskrit dánta
Related forms
toothlike, adjective
Synonyms
8. fondness, partiality, predilection.
Examples from the web for teeth
  • The tooth sockets had been resorbed into the skull, suggesting that he had lost the teeth several years before dying.
  • Natal teeth are teeth that are already present at the time of birth.
  • More complicated than they look, teeth are actually tiny organs.
  • That's obvious from the shape and size of their teeth.
  • Leaves have three to five lobes and large, blunt teeth.
  • Imagine you're at a reception and encounter a colleague with something green in his teeth.
  • Though these ancient bony fish teeth grew from a bone, old teeth remained attached to the bone.
  • People looking for a less-obtrusive way to straighten their teeth have good reason to smile.
  • Widely spaced teeth can be a temporary condition related to normal growth and the development of adult teeth.
  • Your cardiologist might want you to brush your teeth more often.
British Dictionary definitions for teeth

teeth

/tiːθ/
noun
1.
the plural of tooth
2.
the most violent part: the teeth of the gale
3.
the power to produce a desired effect: that law has no teeth
4.
by the skin of one's teeth, See skin (sense 14)
5.
get one's teeth into, to become engrossed in
6.
in the teeth of, in direct opposition to; against: in the teeth of violent criticism he went ahead with his plan
7.
show one's teeth, to threaten, esp in a defensive manner
8.
to the teeth, to the greatest possible degree: armed to the teeth

tooth

/tuːθ/
noun (pl) teeth (tiːθ)
1.
any of various bonelike structures set in the jaws of most vertebrates and modified, according to the species, for biting, tearing, or chewing related adjective dental
2.
any of various similar structures in invertebrates, occurring in the mouth or alimentary canal
3.
anything resembling a tooth in shape, prominence, or function: the tooth of a comb
4.
any of the various small indentations occurring on the margin of a leaf, petal, etc
5.
any one of a number of uniform projections on a gear, sprocket, rack, etc, by which drive is transmitted
6.
taste or appetite (esp in the phrase sweet tooth)
7.
long in the tooth, old or ageing: used originally of horses, because their gums recede with age
8.
tooth and nail, with ferocity and force: we fought tooth and nail
verb (tuːð; tuːθ)
9.
(transitive) to provide with a tooth or teeth
10.
(intransitive) (of two gearwheels) to engage
Derived Forms
toothless, adjective
toothlike, adjective
Word Origin
Old English tōth; related to Old Saxon tand, Old High German zand, Old Norse tonn, Gothic tunthus, Latin dens
Word Origin and History for teeth
n.

plural of tooth (n.).

tooth

n.

Old English toð (plural teð), from Proto-Germanic *tanth, *tunth (cf. Old Saxon, Danish, Swedish, Dutch tand, Old Norse tönn, Old Frisian toth, Old High German zand, German Zahn, Gothic tunþus), from PIE *dont-/*dent- "tooth" (cf. Sanskrit danta, Greek odontos, Latin dens, Lithuanian dantis, Old Irish det, Welsh dent). Plural form teeth is an instance of i-mutation. Application to tooth-like parts of other objects (saws, combs, etc.) first recorded 1520s.

teeth in Medicine

teeth (tēth)
n.
Plural of tooth.

tooth (tōōth)
n. pl. teeth (tēth)
One of a set of hard, bonelike structures rooted in sockets in the jaws of vertebrates, typically composed of a core of soft pulp surrounded by a layer of hard dentin that is coated with cement or enamel at the crown and used chiefly for biting or chewing food or as a means of attack or defense.

teeth in Science
tooth
  (tth)   

Plural teeth (tēth)

  1. Any of the hard bony structures in the mouth used to grasp and chew food and as weapons of attack and defense. In mammals and many other vertebrates, the teeth are set in sockets in the jaw. In fish and amphibians, they grow in and around the palate. See also dentition.

  2. A similar structure in certain invertebrate animals.


teeth in Culture

tooth definition


A hard structure, embedded in the jaws of the mouth, that functions in chewing. The tooth consists of a crown, covered with hard white enamel; a root, which anchors the tooth to the jawbone; and a “neck” between the crown and the root, covered by the gum. Most of the tooth is made up of dentin, which is located directly below the enamel. The soft interior of the tooth, the pulp, contains nerves and blood vessels. Humans have molars for grinding food, incisors for cutting, and canines and bicuspids for tearing.

Slang definitions & phrases for teeth

tee someone off

verb phrase

To make angry; PISS someone OFF: This moping is teeing me off

[1961+; probably a euphemism for pee or piss someone off, influenced by tee off on someone, fr golf]


too rich for someone's blood

adjective phrase

Exceeding someone's capabilities, purse, desires, etc; too much: I don't go out with them anymore; it's too rich for my blood (1884+)


teeth in the Bible

one of the particulars regarding which retaliatory punishment was to be inflicted (Ex. 21:24; Lev. 24:20; Deut. 19:21). "Gnashing of teeth" =rage, despair (Matt. 8:12; Acts 7:54); "cleanness of teeth" =famine (Amos 4:6); "children's teeth set on edge" =children suffering for the sins of their fathers (Ezek. 18:2).

Idioms and Phrases with teeth

teeth

see:
also see under:
tooth

tooth

In addition to the idiom beginning with
tooth
also see:
also see under:
teeth