tooth

Definitions

1. 1.Fig.: Taste; palate. These are not dishes for thy dainty tooth. Dryden.
2. 2.Any projection corresponding to the tooth of an animal, in shape, position, or office; as, the teeth, or cogs, of a cogwheel; a tooth, prong, or tine, of a fork; a tooth, or the teeth, of a rake, a saw, a file, a card.
3. 3.(a) A projecting member resembling a tenon, but fitting into a mortise that is only sunk, not pierced through. (b) One of several steps, or offsets, in a tusk. See Tusk.
4. 4.(Nat. Hist.) An angular or prominence on any edge; as, a tooth on the scale of a fish, or on a leaf of a plant; specifically (Bot.), one of the appendages at the mouth of the capsule of a moss. See Peristome.
5. 5.(Zoöl.) Any hard calcareous or chitinous organ found in the mouth of various invertebrates and used in feeding or procuring food; as, the teeth of a mollusk or a starfish. In spite of the teeth, in defiance of opposition; in opposition to every effort. -- In the teeth, directly; in direct opposition; in front. "Nor strive with all the tempest in my teeth." Pope. -- To cast in the teeth, to report reproachfully; to taunt or insult one with. -- Tooth and nail, as if by biting and scratching; with one's utmost power; by all possible means. L'Estrange. "I shall fight tooth and nail for international copyright." Charles Reade. -- Tooth coralline (Zoöl.), any sertularian hydroid. -- Tooth edge, the sensation excited in the teeth by grating sounds, and by the touch of certain substances, as keen acids. -- Tooth key, an instrument used to extract teeth by a motion resembling that of turning a key. -- Tooth net, a large fishing net anchored. [Scot.] Jamieson. -- Tooth ornament. (Arch.) Same as Dogtooth, n., 2.Tooth paste, a paste for cleaning the teeth; a dentifrice. -- Tooth powder, a powder for cleaning the teeth; a dentifrice. -- Tooth rash. (Med.) See Red-gum, 1. -- To show the teeth, to threaten. "When the Law shows her teeth, but dares not bite." Young. -- To the teeth, in open opposition; directly to one's face. "That I shall live, and tell him to his teeth ." Shak.
6. 6.To furnish with teeth. The twin cards toothed with glittering wire. Wordsworth.
7. 7.To indent; to jag; as, to tooth a saw.
8. 8.To lock into each other. See Tooth, n., 4. Moxon.

Source: Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).

Synonyms

Related questions

• What does "tooth" mean?
• What is another word for "tooth"?

Reverse-dictionary questions

Definition-first questions whose answer is tooth.

• What is fig.: Taste; palate. These are not dishes for thy dainty tooth. Dryden called?
• What is (a) A projecting member resembling a tenon, but fitting into a mortise that is only sunk, not pierced through. (b) One of several steps, or offsets, in a tusk. See Tusk called?
• What is to furnish with teeth. The twin cards toothed with glittering wire. Wordsworth called?
• What is to lock into each other. See Tooth, n., 4. Moxon called?