(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.
(in invertebrates) any of various similar or analogous processes occurring in the mouth or alimentary canal, or on a shell.
any projection resembling or suggesting a tooth.
one of the projections of a comb, rake, saw, etc.
Machinery.
any of the uniform projections on a gear or rack by which it drives, or is driven by, a gear, rack, or worm.
any of the uniform projections on a sprocket by which it drives or is driven by a chain.
Botany.
any small, toothlike marginal lobe.
one of the toothlike divisions of the peristome of mosses.
a sharp, distressing, or destructive attribute or agency.
taste, relish, or liking.
a surface, as on a grinding wheel or sharpening stone, slightly roughened so as to increase friction with another part.
a rough surface created on a paper made for charcoal drawing, watercolor, or the like, or on canvas for oil painting.
by the skin of one's teeth, barely: He got away by the skin of his teeth.
cast / throw in someone's teeth, to reproach someone for (an action): History will ever throw this blunder in his teeth.
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.
in the teeth of,
so as to face or confront; straight into or against: in the teeth of the wind.
in defiance of; in opposition to: She maintained her stand in the teeth of public opinion.
long in the tooth, old; elderly.
put teeth in / into, to establish or increase the effectiveness of: to put teeth into the law.
set one's teeth, to become resolute; prepare for difficulty: He set his teeth and separated the combatants.
set / put one's teeth on edge,
to induce an unpleasant sensation.
to repel; irritate: The noise of the machines sets my teeth on edge.
show one's teeth, to become hostile or threatening; exhibit anger: Usually friendly, she suddenly began to show her teeth.
to the teeth, entirely; fully: armed to the teeth; dressed to the teeth in furs.
Origin of tooth
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
SYNONYMS FOR tooth
8 fondness, partiality, predilection.
SEE SYNONYMS FOR tooth ON THESAURUS.COM
OTHER WORDS FROM tooth
toothlike,adjective
Words nearby tooth
Toorak tractor, to order, toorie, tooshie, toot, tooth, toothache, toothache tree, tooth and nail, tooth ax, toothbrush
There is a debate about whether or not tooth brushing is allowed.
First Friday of Ramadan For Palestinians|Maysoon Zayid|July 12, 2013|DAILY BEAST
You see, I've got the thick part of a snail's shell in my tooth and the minute that is out I'll be all right.'
The Club at Crow's Corner|James Otis
And you can't get away with that tooth without fetching the whole harrow along, can you?
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Complete|Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)
Mackay had no forceps, but he knew how to pull a tooth, and he was not the sort to be daunted by the lack of tools.
The Black-Bearded Barbarian (George Leslie Mackay)|Mary Esther Miller MacGregor, AKA Marion Keith
The recoil of the spring F has now brought the locking pallet G to catch the tooth B, the escapement-wheel is thus again stopped.
Time and Time-Tellers|James W. Benson
She finally had the molar pulled, though it was a second tooth and should have been saved.
Song of the Lark|Willa Cather
British Dictionary definitions for tooth
tooth
/ (tuːθ) /
nounpluralteeth (tiːθ)
any of various bonelike structures set in the jaws of most vertebrates and modified, according to the species, for biting, tearing, or chewingRelated adjective: dental
any of various similar structures in invertebrates, occurring in the mouth or alimentary canal
anything resembling a tooth in shape, prominence, or functionthe tooth of a comb
any of the various small indentations occurring on the margin of a leaf, petal, etc
any one of a number of uniform projections on a gear, sprocket, rack, etc, by which drive is transmitted
taste or appetite (esp in the phrase sweet tooth)
long in the toothold or ageing: used originally of horses, because their gums recede with age
tooth and nailwith ferocity and forcewe fought tooth and nail
verb (tuːð, tuːθ)
(tr)to provide with a tooth or teeth
(intr)(of two gearwheels) to engage
Derived forms of tooth
toothless, adjectivetoothlike, adjective
Word Origin for tooth
Old English tōth; related to Old Saxon tand, Old High German zand, Old Norse tonn, Gothic tunthus, Latin dens
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.
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.
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.
A similar structure in certain invertebrate animals.