tooth

noun, verb — 12 senses

tooth

noun

UK /tuːθ/ · US /tuθ/

Etymology

From Middle English toth, tothe, tooth, from Old English tōþ, from Proto-West Germanic *tanþ, from Proto-Germanic *tanþs, from Proto-Indo-European *h₃dónts (“tooth”). Doublet of dent, dens, tind, and tine. Related to tusk. Cognates Cognate with Scots tuith (“tooth”), North Frisian Ter, teän, tosch, toske, tuis, tus, tusch, täis (“tooth”), Saterland Frisian Tusk (“tooth”), West Frisian tosk (“tooth”), Bavarian Zåhn (“tooth”), Dutch tand (“tooth”), German Zahn (“tooth”), Limburgish tandj (“tooth”), Luxembourgish Zant (“tooth”), Vilamovian cōn (“tooth”), Yiddish צאָן (tson, “tooth”), Danish and Swedish tand (“tooth”), Faroese tonn (“tooth”), Icelandic tönn (“tooth”), Norn *tann, *tant (“tooth”), Norwegian Bokmål tann (“tooth”), Norwegian Nynorsk tann, tonn (“tooth”), Breton and Welsh dant (“tooth”), Cornish dans (“tooth”), Irish déad (“tooth”), Scottish Gaelic deud (“tooth”), Asturian, Leonese, Mirandese, and Spanish diente (“tooth”), Aragonese dien (“tooth”), Catalan and French dent (“tooth”), Galician, Italian, and Portuguese dente (“tooth”), Romanian dinte (“tooth”), Latin dēns (“tooth”), Ancient Greek ὀδούς (odoús), ὀδών (odṓn, “tooth”), Lithuanian dantis (“tooth”), Belarusian дзясна́ (dzjasná, “gum”), Bulgarian and Russian десна (desna, “gum”), Czech dáseň (“gum”), Polish dziąsło (“gum”), Serbo-Croatian dȇsni (“gum”), Slovak ďasno (“gum”), Slovene dlesni (“gum”), Ukrainian я́сна (jásna, “gum”), Armenian ատամ (atam, “tooth”), Ossetian дӕндаг (dændag, “tooth”), Baluchi دنتان (dantán), دتھاں (datʰāⁿ, “tooth”), Central Kurdish ددان (ddan, “tooth”), Northern Kurdish didan, diran (“tooth”), Persian دندان (dandân, “tooth”), Sanskrit दत् (dat), दन्त (danta, “tooth”).

9 senses
  1. 1A hard, calcareous structure present in the mouth of…
  2. 2A sharp projection on the blade of a saw or similar implement.
  3. 3A projection on the edge of a gear that meshes with…
  4. 4Of a rope, the stickiness when in contact with another…
  5. 5A projection or point in other parts of the body…
  6. 6A pointed projection from the margin of a leaf.
  7. 7The rough surface of some kinds of cel or other films…
  8. 8Liking, fondness (compare toothsome).
  9. 9An irreducible component of a comb that intersects the…
1

A hard, calcareous structure present in the mouth of many vertebrate animals, generally used for biting and chewing food.

  • tooth decay
2

A sharp projection on the blade of a saw or similar implement.

3

A projection on the edge of a gear that meshes with similar projections on adjacent gears, or on the circumference of a cog that engages with a chain.

4

Of a rope, the stickiness when in contact with another rope as in a knot.

  • Jute has more tooth than polypropylene.
5

Biology, Natural sciences, Zoology A projection or point in other parts of the body resembling the tooth of a vertebrate animal.

  • Species XXXVI. Obliquaria bullata— (Unio bullata) […] Found at the falls of Ohio; rare; breadth almost two inches; cardinal and lamellar teeth like preceding species; apices rounded, decorticated, but not truncated1832, Constantine Samuel Rafinesque, A monograph of the fluviatile bivalve shells of the river Ohio, page 43:
6

Biology, Botany, Natural sciences A pointed projection from the margin of a leaf.

7

The rough surface of some kinds of cel or other films that allows better adhesion of artwork.

8

Figuratively Liking, fondness (compare toothsome).

  • I have a sweet tooth: I love sugary treats.
  • These are not dishes for thy dainty tooth1693, John Dryden, “The Third Satire of Aulus Persius Flaccus”, in The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis:
9

Algebraic geometry, Geometry, Mathematics, Sciences An irreducible component of a comb that intersects the handle in exactly one point, that point being distinct from the unique point of intersection for any other tooth of the comb.

Synonyms
fang, tooth, toothypeg
Derived terms
153 termsacro-dermato-ungual-lacrimal-tooth syndrome, axle tooth, baby tooth, back tooth, bigtooth, black tooth, bleeding tooth fungus, Bluetooth, bucktooth, butter tooth, canine tooth, cheek tooth, cheektooth, clean as a hound's tooth, colt's tooth, corner tooth, cracked tooth syndrome, daggertooth, deciduous tooth, dog's tooth violet, dogtooth, dog-tooth, dog tooth, egg tooth, elephant's tooth, eyetooth, eye-tooth, eye tooth, fangtooth, fight tooth and nail, fine-tooth comb, fine-tooth comb test, foretooth, front-toothless, gagtooth, give an eye-tooth, gobber tooth, gold tooth, hag's tooth, hen's tooth, hog-tooth spar, houndstooth, intertooth, jawtooth, jelly tooth, long in the tooth, megatooth shark, milk-tooth, milk tooth, mill tooth, molar tooth, multitooth, not to put a tooth in it, old in the tooth, old woman's tooth, permanent tooth, picktooth, pivot tooth, primary tooth, pseudotooth, puppytooth, purple tooth, rabbit tooth, red in tooth and claw, retooth, sabertooth, sabre-tooth, salty tooth, saw-tooth, saw tooth, sawtooth, scissor tooth, shark's tooth, sharptooth, snaggletooth, snaggle-tooth, sour tooth, spicy tooth, sweet tooth, teethe, temporary tooth, threetooth, toothache, toothaching, toothake, tooth and claw, tooth-and-nail, tooth and nail, tooth and nail syndrome, tooth and tong, toothbill, tooth-billed pigeon, toothblack, tooth-bottle, toothbrush, toothbrusher, toothcare, toothcarp, toothcomb, tooth-comb, tooth comb, tooth decay, tooth-drawer, toothdrawer, toothdrawing, tooth duller, tooth enamel, toother, toothette, tooth fairy, toothfish, toothful, tooth fungus, tooth hurty, toothie, tooth key, toothleaf, toothless, toothlet, toothlike, toothly, tooth mark, toothmark, toothmug, tooth mug, tooth net, tooth ornament, tooth pad, toothpaste, toothpick, toothpicker, toothplate, tooth powder, toothproof, toothpuller, toothrow, tooth shell, tooth socket, toothsome, tooth-stainer, toothstick, tooth-to-jowl, toothward, toothwash, toothwork, toothwort, toothy, unitooth, untooth, wangtooth, wisdom tooth, wit tooth, wolf tooth
Related terms
bicuspid, canine, cuspid, dental, dentist, dentistry, denture, fang, incisor, molar, orling, premolar, prong, tine, tusk
Hyponyms
bicuspid, canine, cuspid, fangtooth, incisor, premolar, molar, wisdom tooth
Meronyms
cementum, dentine, enamel, pulp

tooth

verb
Etymology

From Middle English toth, tothe, tooth, from Old English tōþ, from Proto-West Germanic *tanþ, from Proto-Germanic *tanþs, from Proto-Indo-European *h₃dónts (“tooth”). Doublet of dent, dens, tind, and tine. Related to tusk. Cognates Cognate with Scots tuith (“tooth”), North Frisian Ter, teän, tosch, toske, tuis, tus, tusch, täis (“tooth”), Saterland Frisian Tusk (“tooth”), West Frisian tosk (“tooth”), Bavarian Zåhn (“tooth”), Dutch tand (“tooth”), German Zahn (“tooth”), Limburgish tandj (“tooth”), Luxembourgish Zant (“tooth”), Vilamovian cōn (“tooth”), Yiddish צאָן (tson, “tooth”), Danish and Swedish tand (“tooth”), Faroese tonn (“tooth”), Icelandic tönn (“tooth”), Norn *tann, *tant (“tooth”), Norwegian Bokmål tann (“tooth”), Norwegian Nynorsk tann, tonn (“tooth”), Breton and Welsh dant (“tooth”), Cornish dans (“tooth”), Irish déad (“tooth”), Scottish Gaelic deud (“tooth”), Asturian, Leonese, Mirandese, and Spanish diente (“tooth”), Aragonese dien (“tooth”), Catalan and French dent (“tooth”), Galician, Italian, and Portuguese dente (“tooth”), Romanian dinte (“tooth”), Latin dēns (“tooth”), Ancient Greek ὀδούς (odoús), ὀδών (odṓn, “tooth”), Lithuanian dantis (“tooth”), Belarusian дзясна́ (dzjasná, “gum”), Bulgarian and Russian десна (desna, “gum”), Czech dáseň (“gum”), Polish dziąsło (“gum”), Serbo-Croatian dȇsni (“gum”), Slovak ďasno (“gum”), Slovene dlesni (“gum”), Ukrainian я́сна (jásna, “gum”), Armenian ատամ (atam, “tooth”), Ossetian дӕндаг (dændag, “tooth”), Baluchi دنتان (dantán), دتھاں (datʰāⁿ, “tooth”), Central Kurdish ددان (ddan, “tooth”), Northern Kurdish didan, diran (“tooth”), Persian دندان (dandân, “tooth”), Sanskrit दत् (dat), दन्त (danta, “tooth”).

1

To provide or furnish with teeth.

  • His Wife sate near him, teasing matted wool, / While, from the twin cards toothed with glittering wire / He fed the spindle […]1815, William Wordsworth, The Brothers:
2

To indent; to jag.

  • to tooth a saw
3

To lock into each other, like gear wheels.

  • Whereas if the Header of one side of the wall, toothed as much as the Stretcher on the other side, it would be a stronger Toothing, and the joints of the Header on one side, would be in the middle of the Headers of the course they lie upon of the other side1678, Joseph Moxon, Mechanick Exercises: or the Doctrine of Handy-works, page 260:

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.