Pl. teeth. Forms: see below, sense 1. [OE. tóþ, tóð (:—*tanþ), Com. Teut. and Com. Indo-Eur.; OFris. tôth, tond (NFris. tôth, EFris. tond); OS. tand (MLG. tand, tan, LG. tan; MDu. tant (d), Du. tand; OHG. zana, zan (MHG. zant, zan, Ger. zahn); ON. tǫnn (:—tanþuz; Sw., Da. tand, NNorw. tonn); beside Gothic tunþus;:—OTeut. *tanþ- and *tunþ-:—Indo-Eur. dent, dont, dnt, whence Skr. dan, danta, Gr. ὀ-δούς (ὀ-δόντ-ς), L. dens (dent-s), OIr. dét (*dent), W. dant, Lith. dantís. The termination agrees with that of pr. pples., whence Pott conjectured an original *ed-ont-, pr. pple. of ed- to eat; i.e., ‘an eater.’ OE. tóþ was originally a masculine consonantal stem, with dative sing. téþ (:—tóþi), pl. nom. téþ (:—*tóþiz), gen. tóþa, dat. tóþum (in early ME. toþen). A rare pl. tóþas after masc. -oz stems also occurs. An umlaut pl. is seen also in Fris. têth, MLG. tene, LG. täne, OHG. zeni, MHG. zene, Ger. zähne. In use the plural is much more frequent than the singular, and in some dialects the latter is sometimes assimilated to it as ‘a teeth.’
A double plural teeths was formerly (and is still dial.) used in speaking of a number of persons; e.g., in spite of their teeths, pl. of in spite of his teeth: see senses 4 d, 5.]
1. In plural, the hard processes within the mouth, attached (usually in sockets) in a row to each jaw in most vertebrates except birds (but also in some extinct birds), having points, edges, or grinding surfaces, and serving primarily for biting, tearing, or trituration of solid food, and secondarily as weapons of attack or defence, and for other purposes; in singular, each of these individually.
In mammals usually consisting of dentine coated with cement around the root and with enamel in the exposed part; but in some cases horny, chitinous, or osseous. In some animals, also occurring on other parts, as the tongue or pharynx. Also, applied to similar or analogous structures occurring in the mouth or alimentary canal in some invertebrates.
Sing. 1 tóð (dat. téð), 1–4 tóþ (3 toþþ Orm.), 4–5 toþe, 4–6 toth, tothe, tuth; 5 tooþ (thothe, toyth, toeth, tuthe), 5–6 toothe; 5– tooth. (Also 6 touthe, Sc. twth, twith, twithe, 6–7 touth, 6– Sc. tuith. The shortened vowel in Ormin’s toþþ is anomalous: see TOTH.)
a. 900. K. Ælfred, Laws, c. 19. Selle his aʓen fore, toð fore teð.
c. 975. Rushw. Gosp., Matt. v. 38. Eʓe for eʓe toð for toþ.
c. 1250. Gen. & Ex., 4148. Ðoȝ him lestede hise siȝte briȝt, And euerilc toð bi tale riȝt.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 23798. To tell þe soth, Bath me wantes tung and toth [v.r. toþe, toþ].
1382. Wyclif, Matt. v. 38. It is said, Eiȝe for eiȝe, toth for toth.
a. 1425. Cursor M., 6040 (Trin.). A litil beest Of tooþ is not vnfoulest.
1481. Caxton, Reynard, viii. (Arb.), 15. Olde wymen that … had not one toeth in her heed.
1483. Cath. Angl., 398/1. A Tuthe, dens.
1539. Palsgr., 282/1. Tothe, dent.
1562. Turner, Herbal, II. 107 b. Pylletoris is good for the tuth ach if the tuth be wasshed with vinegre.
1620. Shelton, Quix. (1746), IV. ii. 11. Meddle not with a hollow Tooth.
1709–10. Steele, Tatler, No. 127, ¶ 11. She has not a Tooth in her Head.
1852. Thackeray, Esmond, I. ii. She was lean, and yellow, and long in the tooth.
Pl. 1 tóeþ, 1–4 téþ, téð, (dat. 1 tóþum, -an, 2–3 -en), (3 tieth), 4 teþe (teþþe, Sc. tetht), 4–5 teeþ, 4–6 teth, tethe, 5–6 teethe, teithe, 6 teath, (tithe), 5– teeth (Sc. 6– teith); also 1 tóþas, 6 tothes.
c. 725. Corpus Gloss. (O.E.T.), 1967. Suaeder, butan toðum.
c. 825. Vesp. Psalter, iii. 8. Toeð synfulra ðu forðræstes.
c. 1000. Life Guthlac, v. (1848), 34. Heora toþas wæron ʓelice horses twuxan.
c. 1000. Sax. Leechd., III. 104. Oft man smeaþ hwæþer teþ bænene beon.
c. 1200. Vices & Virtues, 19. Ðar is chiueringe of toðen.
a. 1225. Ancr. R., 288. His teð beoð attrie, ase of ane wode dogge.
c. 1290. S. Eng. Leg., I. 206/228. With kene tieth al fuyrie.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 19354. For tene þair tethe [v.rr. teþþe, teþ, teth, teeþ] to gnast.
c. 1375. Sc. Leg. Saints, i. 25. Vith his tetht he wald haf refyn sone.
1390. Gower, Conf., II. 245. A furgh of lond, in which a-rowe The teth of thaddre he moste sowe.
1483. Cath. Angl., 380/2. To drawe oute Tethe, edentare.
1486. Bk. St. Albans, f vij. A Rage of the teethe.
1552. Huloet, s.v., Dentosus, full of teath, or hauyng many teath.
1577. trans. Bullinger’s Decades (1592), 54. [They] whet their teeth for anger.
1597. A. M., trans. Guillemeau’s Fr. Chirurg., b iij b/2. These artificialle teethe are sometimes made of Ivorye.
1598. Q. Eliz., Plutarch, xv. 3. Whan the think ther handz to slow the ad tother tithe.
1653. Walton, Compl. Angler, viii. 166. The Carp is … amongst those … fish which … have their teeth in their throat.
1705. Vanbrugh, Confed., I. iii. There’s the woman … that sells paint and patches, iron-bodice, false teeth, and all sorts of things, to the ladies.
1812. Examiner, 23 Nov., 752/2. Mrs. G. Gatehouse, in the 101st year of her age;… cut her teeth about two years since.
1872. Mivart, Elem. Anat., vii. (1873), 238. Our teeth are dermal structures … developed from the deeper layer or enderon.
1888. Rolleston & Jackson, Anim. Life, 115. A … lingual membrane bearing transverse rows of teeth [in the snail]. Ibid., 217. The three muscular jaws … bear at their edges in the medicinal Leech about 80–90 fine chitinoid teeth. Ibid., 348. New teeth in succession to old teeth are either formed without limit of numbers, as in most Pisces, Amphibia, Reptilia, or are restricted to a second set in some Mammalia.
b. spec. An elephant’s tusk (projecting upper incisor tooth), as a source of ivory.
c. 1050. Gloss., in Wr.-Wülcker, 397/27. Eburneus dens, elpend toþ.
1483. Caxton, Gold. Leg., 73/3. The nauye … brouht … teeth of Olyphauntes.
1533. Elyot, Cast. Helthe (1539), 70. The olyphantes tothe.
1687. R. Knox, Hist. Ceylon, 21. But few [elephants] have Teeth, and they males onely.
1720. De Foe, Capt. Singleton, vi. The ground was scattered with elephants’ teeth.
1897. Mary Kingsley, W. Africa, 325. Ivory is everywhere an evil thing…. A very common way of collecting a tooth is to kill the person who owns one.
c. In expressions referring to speech (now esp. biting or angry speech).
a. 1300. Cursor M., 13941. Sal yee na leis here o mi toth.
13[?]. Guy Warw. (A.), 4385. Þou lexst amidward þi teþ, & þer-fore haue þou maugreþ.
1864. Tennyson, Aylmer’s Field, 328. So stammering ‘scoundrel’ out of teeth that ground As in a dreadful dream.
Mod. Hissing ‘Traitor!’ through his clenched teeth.
2. fig. or in figurative expressions: a. referring to eating, esp. to the sense of taste; hence often = taste, liking (cf. palate). See also various phrases in 8.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Wife’s Prol., 449. I wol kepe it for youre owene tooth.
1435. Misyn, Fire of Love, 36. My toyth continuly to myrth of songe was chaungyd.
1555. Latimer, in Strype, Eccl. Mem. (1721), III. App. xxxvi. 103. For all theis things make you the meter for Gods tothe.
1579. Lodge, Def. Poetry (Hunter. Cl.), 8. Will you haue all for yon owne tothe?
1598. Lodge & Greene, Looking Glasse, G iij. The Smith and the diuel hath a drie tooth in his head.
1615. Bp. Hall, Contempl., Old Test., XI. vii. A wanton tooth is the harbinger to luxurious wantonnesse. Ibid. (1634), N. T., IV. iv. Well did Herodias know, how to fit the tooth of her paramour.
1675. Cotton, Scoffer Scoft, 6. And keep the best o’ th’ meat (forsooth) For your own Worships dainty tooth!
1704. J. Pitts, Acc. Mohammetans, ix. (1738), 210. He had a great Tooth for the Dey-ship.
1851. Beck’s Florist, Sept., 213. What a tooth for fruit has a monkey!
b. referring to biting or gnawing; hence denoting a hurtful, hostile, destructive, or devouring agency or quality. See also various phrases in III.
1546. Phaër, Bk. Childr. (1553), A ij. It is impossible to auoide the teethe of malicious enuy.
1603. Shaks., Meas. for M., V. i. 12. It deserues … A forted residence ’gainst the tooth of time.
a. 1659. Osborn, Ess., ii. Wks. (1673), 560. Out of fear of the Iron-teeth of the Law.
1742. Gray, Eton, 66. Jealousy with rankling tooth.
a. 1765. Young, Statesman’s Creed. Records that defy the tooth of time.
1816. Byron, Prisoner of Chillon, ii. That iron is a cankering thing, For in these limbs its teeth remain, With marks that will not wear away.
1874. D. Gray, Poet. Wks., 89. ’Tis April, yet the wind retains its tooth.
II. 3. transf. A projecting part or point resembling an animal’s tooth; esp. one of a row or series of such. a. As an artificial structure, in an implement, machine, etc.; e.g., one of the pointed projections of a comb, saw, file, rake, harrow, fork, etc.; a prong, tine; one of the series of projections on the edge of a wheel, pinion, etc., which engage with corresponding ones on another; a cog.
1523. Fitzherb., Husb., § 24. If the rake be made of grene woode,… the tethe wyll fall out, whan he hath mooste nede to them.
1577. B. Googe, Heresbach’s Husb., II. (1586), 106 b. [These] doe more fill the teeth of the Sawe.
1591. Percivall, Sp. Dict., Pua,… the tooth of a combe.
1611. Cotgr., s.v. Allochons, The teeth, or toothing, of a wheele, in a clocke, &c.
1639. T. Brugis, trans. Camus’ Mor. Relat., 169. But iron is never … brighter than when it hath been under the sharp teeth of the file.
1680. Moxon, Mech. Exerc., x. 189. A great Iron Wheel, having Teeth on its edge.
1793. Statist. Acc. Scotl., VIII. 48. The teeth, or wooden pins [of a harrow] must be made long.
1807. Robinson, Archæol. Græca, IV. xv. 412. Anchors were made of iron, and furnished with teeth, fastening to the bottom of the sea.
1829. Nat. Philos., I. Mechanics, II. vii. 27 (Usef. Knowl. Soc.). The cogs on the surface of the wheel are generally called teeth, and those on the surface of the axle are called leaves.
b. As a natural structure, in animals, plants, etc.; e.g., the odontoid process of the axis vertebra; a projecting point in the upper mandible of the bill in certain birds (cf. DENTIROSTER); each of a row of small projections on the edge of one valve of the shell in some bivalve mollusks; each of the pointed processes on the margin of leaves or other parts in many plants (cf. DENTATE), or of those forming the peristome of the capsule in mosses; also, generally, a projecting point of rock, etc.
1694–1815. [see AXIS1 2].
c. 1711. Petiver, Gazophyl., vii. 63. A small rugged Shell…. Its Navel small with a Tooth or Knag in the Mouth.
1796. Withering, Brit. Plants, I. 253. Cal[yx]. Cup 1 leaf, concave, but expanding, with 5 teeth, permanent.
1847. Carpenter, Zool., iv. § 361. Its [the upper mandible of a bird of prey] edge is notched, so as to form a kind of projecting tooth on either side. Ibid., xviii. § 932. This hinge [in the shell of a bivalve mollusc] is sometimes formed … by a number of little projections or teeth, which fit into corresponding hollows in the opposite valve.
1861. Miss Pratt, Flower. Plants, IV. 88. (Toad-flax) … capsule swollen,… opening by valves or teeth.
1871. L. Stephen, Playgr. Eur., v. (1894), 125. Great rocky teeth, striking up through their icy covering, like the edge of a saw.
1887. J. Ball, Nat. in S. Amer., 210. The long stiff leaves, edged with sharp teeth.
c. An accidental jag or uneven projection at the edge of something.
1612. Brinsley, Lud. Lit., 29. You may make your pen of the best of the quil, & where you see the cleft to be the cleanest, & without teeth.
d. A rough surface on paper, canvas, etc., such as to enable pencil-marks, colors, etc., to adhere; a roughness made by a toothing-plane on surfaces to be glued together, to promote adhesion of the glue. (Only in sing.)
1811. Self Instructor, 525. The tooth or grain of the paper catching the crayons in dots.
1884. Century Mag., XXIX. 205/2. The substance worked upon being commonly rough paper, to the ‘tooth’ or burr of which the color partially adheres.
1894. Maskelyne, Sharps & Flats, 232. [It] is roughened by rubbing it with coarse glass paper. This gives it a kind of ‘tooth.’
1906. R. C. Bayley, Compl. Photogr., 382. A polished sheet of copper … has its surface treated in some way to give it a very fine grain or tooth…. Fine bitumen dust is generally employed.
e. pl. The lower zone of facets in a rose-diamond.
1877. in Knight, Dict. Mech.
f. pl. fig. A ship’s guns. Naut. slang.
1810. B. Silliman, Jrnl. Trav. (1820), III. 291. The ship had no teeth, as the sailors say, when they mean great guns.
1833. Marryat, P. Simple, xlvi. They were … large schooners,… showing a very good set of teeth.
1849. W. S. Mayo, Kaloolah, ii. There’s at least three rows of teeth beneath that mass of spars.
III. Phrases.
4. In the teeth, in (one’s) teeth. a. In direct (local) opposition or attack; in the teeth of, in direct opposition to, so as to face or confront, straight against.
1297. R. Glouc. (Rolls), 8404. Our lord … þe smoke þat hii made … Riȝt in hor owe teþ bigan hom euene sende.
1581. A. Hall, Iliad, VIII. 138. A Hector, who no lesse desires to meete them in the teeth.
1669. Sturmy, Mariner’s Mag., I. ii. 18. The Wind is right in our teeth.
1737. Whiston, Josephus, Wars, III. x. § 5. Others … met the enemy in the teeth.
1833. L. Ritchie, Wand. by Loire, 160. They … had run into the teeth of a heavy barge full of armed men.
1892. Emily Lawless, Grania, II. 7. He … had run across in the teeth of the rising gale.
b. In the teeth of, in direct and manifest opposition to, in defiance of, in spite of.
1792. Gouv. Morris, in Sparks, Life & Writ. (1832), II. 160. State necessity will be urged in the teeth of policy, humanity, and justice.
1818. Scott, Hrt. Midl., xxii[i]. In no civil case would a counsel have been permitted to plead his client’s case in the teeth of the law.
1822. Bury & Norwich Post, 23 Oct., 3/2. Defendant’s Counsel urged the improbability that he should wilfully make a false affidavit of debt in the teeth of a living witness and documentary evidence.
1847. L. Hunt, Jar Honey, x. (1848), 128. Why do you continue to live here, in the teeth of these repeated warnings?
1885. Law Times, 13 June, 113/1. A judge has no right to enter judgment in the teeth of the finding of a jury.
c. In the teeth of, in presence of, in the face of; usually implying hostility or danger; threateningly confronted by.
1825. Lamb, Elia, Ser. II. Barbara S. They were in fact in the very teeth of starvation.
1867. Parkman, Jesuits N. Amer., xxvi. (1875), 381. His post was in the teeth of danger.
1876. Blackmore, Cripps, i. The Carrier scarcely knew what to do in the teeth of so urgent a message.
d. To cast (one) in the teeth with (something), later to cast (a thing) in one’s teeth (see CAST v. 65), † to hit (one) in the teeth with (obs.), to throw in (one’s) teeth: to reproach, upbraid, or censure with; to bring up in reproach against. (In quot. 1596 to throw in (one’s) teeth = to send or direct defiantly against: cf. 4 b, 6 b.) Also in similar phrases expressing reproachful or defiant utterance.
1535. Coverdale, Matt. xxvii. 44. The murtherers also that were crucified with him, cast the same in his tethe.
1548. Patten, Exped. Scotl., Pref. biv b. Take it not that I hit you here in the teeths with oure good turnes.
1581. Pettie, trans. Guazzo’s Civ. Conv., III. (1586), 147. Some … will not sticke to hit him in the teeth, that he was the sonne of [etc.].
1596. Shaks., 1 Hen. IV., V. ii. 42. To Armes, for I haue thrown A braue defiance in King Henries teeth.
1614. Day, Dyall, Ep. Ded. Caius of Cambridge did twit us in the teeth with some of our Founders here in Oxford that had been themselves Cambridge Men.
1619. W. Whateley, God’s Husb., ii. (1622), 53. He giueth to all liberally, and hitteth no man in the teeth.
1640. Sir W. Boswell, in Abp. Ussher’s Lett. (1686), App. 27. The main things that they hit in our teeth are, our Bishops to be called Lords.
1694. F. Bragge, Disc. Parables, xiii. 441. This neglect of family-devotions is often thrown in our teeth.
1819. Keats, Otho, IV. ii. 105. In thy teeth I give thee back the lie!
1850. Tait’s Mag., XVII. 441/2. Perpetually throwing in the teeth of the second wife the unrivalled virtues … of the first.
5. In spite of (despite, maugre, etc.) one’s teeth: notwithstanding one’s opposition or resistance; in spite of one, in defiance of one. Now rare exc. dial.
c. 1230. Hali Meid., 47. He ȝarkeð þe unþonc hise teð þe blisse & te crune of cristes icorene.
13[?]. K. Alis., 5840 (Bodl. MS.). He … maugre þe teeþ of her alle Sette his rigge to þe walle.
c. 1489. Caxton, Sonnes of Aymon, iii. 86. He putte theym to fight, magre their teeth.
1549. Latimer, 2nd Serm. bef. Edw. VI. (Arb.), 73. A greate man keepeth certaine landes … and wilbe hyr tenaunte in the spite of hyr tethe.
1551. Robinson, trans. More’s Utop., II. viii. (1895), 260. Spyte of there tethes wrestynge owt of theire handes the sure and vndowbted victory.
1586. J. Hooker, Hist. Irel., in Holinshed, II. 115/1. Which perforce and maugre of his teeth compelled him to retire with shame.
1586. T. B., La Primaud. Fr. Acad., I. (1594), 414. Compelling him … to be liberall in despite of his teeth.
1596. Danett, trans. Comines, V. xv. (1614), 169. Constrained them spite of their teeths to depart the towne.
1598. Grenewey, Tacitus’ Ann., IV. ix. (1622), 103. Noble men which maugre thy teeth mount to authority.
1689. Hickeringill, Ceremony-Monger, iii. Wks. 1716, II. 482. Let the People go whistle, they are their Feeders and Pastors in Spight of their Teeths.
1712. Arbuthnot, John Bull, IV. vii. [We] will go on with the Lawsuit in spite of John Bull’s teeth.
1835. Court Mag., VI. 74/2. Pleasing herself before his very eyes, in spite of his teeth.
6. To the teeth. a. So as to be completely equipped; very fully or completely: in armed to the teeth; so entrenched up to their teeth.
c. 1380. Sir Ferumb., 2707. Þey wern y-armed in-to þe teþ & araid wel for þe fiȝt.
14[?]. Lybeaus Disc., 460. All yarmed to the teth.
1708. Luttrell, Brief Rel. (1857), VI. 328. The French … are intrench’t up to their teeth.
1829. Caledonian Mercury, 15 June, 2/4. Like many humbler men the Chancellor, it is said, is steeped in debt to the very teeth.
1845. Ford, Handbk. Spain, I. xi. 43. Everybody in Spain travels armed to the teeth.
b. To (one’s) teeth, to the teeth of: intensive of ‘to one’s face’; directly and openly; defiantly; also, so as directly to face, confront, or oppose.
1542. Udall, Erasm. Apoph., 319. Cicero mocked hir to the harde teeth with sembleyng that he graunted hir saiyng [etc.].
1583. Melbancke, Philotimus, L iv b. Though I praise you to your teeth.
1602. Shaks., Ham., IV. vii. 57. That I shall liue and tell him to his teeth; Thus diddest thou.
1677. W. Hughes, Man of Sin, III. iii. 79. Which … plainly gives them the lye unto their Teeths.
1680. Otway, Caius Marius, I. i. Now Romes last Stake of Liberty is set, And must be push’d for to the Teeth of Fortune.
1724. De Foe, Mem. Cavalier, II. 189. The Foot…, coming close up to the Teeth of one another…, fought with great Resolution.
7. Tooth and nail (orig. with tooth and nail), advb. phr.: lit. with the use of one’s teeth and nails as weapons; by biting and scratching: almost always fig., in the way of vigorous attack, defence, or action generally; vigorously, fiercely, with one’s utmost efforts, with all one’s might.
1534. More, Comf. agst. Trib., III. xxii. (1573), 193. They would faine kepe them as long as euer they might, euen with tooth and naile.
1562. Winȝet, Cert. Tract., Wks. (S.T.S.), I. 16. Contending with tuith and naill (as is the prouerb).
1568. V. Skinner, trans. Montanus’ Inquisition, 46 b. To perswade them tooth and naile, not to cleaue vnto that doctrine.
1579. W. Wilkinson, Confut. Familye of Loue, 51. M. Harding fighteth for it tooth and nail.
1651. Culpepper, Astrol. Judgem. Dis. (1658), 118. He will helpe it forward with tooth and naile.
1692. L’Estrange, Josephus, Antiq., XV. xi. (1733), 413. Salome and her Faction were Tooth and Nail for dispatching her out of Hand.
1719. D’Urfey, Pills, IV. 156. She flew in her Face Tooth and Nail.
1827. Scott, Jrnl., 26 July. To-morrow I resume the Chronicles, tooth and nail.
1892. Huxley, in Life (1900), II. xviii. 312. I am ready to oppose any such project tooth and nail.
attrib. 1865. Courier & Argus, 18 April, 3/4. After a little by-play among the ‘ladies,’ which at one time threatened a ‘tooth-and-nail’ conflict.
1900. Century Mag., Feb., 509/1. The tooth-and-nail fight to which they and their children were condemned.
† b. So with teeth and all. Obs.
a. 1600. Hooker, Eccl. Pol., VIII. vi. § 2. Even with teeth and all they that favour the papal throne must hold the contrary.
8. Various phrases.
† a. To have the teeth cold, to have cold at the teeth, to suffer hunger, go hungry (obs.). b. From the teeth forward(s or outward(s (also simply from one’s teeth, and ellipt. teeth outward(s), formally or feignedly, in profession but not in reality (opp. to from the heart). † c. To hide one’s teeth, fig. to conceal malice or hostile intention under a show of friendliness (opp. to to show one’s teeth) (obs.). † d. To love the tooth, to be fond of eating, to be an epicure (obs.). e. To set one’s teeth, to press or clench one’s teeth firmly together from indignation, or fixed resolution as in facing danger, opposition, or difficulty; hence fig. or allusively; see also SET v. 95. f. To show one’s teeth, lit. to uncover the teeth by withdrawing the lips from them, esp. as a beast in readiness for biting or attack; usu. fig. to show hostility or malice, to behave in a threatening way. g. The teeth water, a variant of the mouth waters: see MOUTH sb. 2 c (? obs.).
a. 1484. Caxton, Fables of Æsop, II. xv. Suche weren fayre gownes and fayr gyrdels of gold that haue theyr teeth cold at home. Ibid., IV. xvii. He that werketh not … shal haue ofte at his teeth grete cold.
b. 1570–6. Lambarde, Peramb. Kent (1826), 420. They met … and from the teeth forwarde departed good friends againe.
1588. J. Udall, Diotrephes (Arb.), 27. Manye of them like vs but from the teeth outwarde.
1647. Lilly, Chr. Astrol., lxxxviii. 459. They love not [one another], or but teeth outward.
1815. J. Hogg, Lett., 28 Feb., in Lockhart, Scott, xxxvi. To be friends from the teeth forwards is common enough.
c. 1714. T. Ellwood, in Life, 230. The Goaler … hid his Teeth,… putting on a shew of Kindness.
d. 1610. Holland, Camden’s Brit. (1637), 543. Meates … greatly sought for by these that love the tooth so well.
e. 1599. Shaks., Hen. V., III. i. 15. Now set the Teeth, and stretch the Nosthrill wide.
1672. Dryden, Marriage-à-la-Mode, Epil. 28. You … set your teeth when each design fell short.
1823. Scott, Quentin D., xxxii. ‘If this should prove truth,’ said the Duke, setting his teeth, and pressing his heel against the ground.
1859. Geo. Eliot, A. Bede, xxxvii. She set her teeth when she thought of Arthur: she cursed him.
1870. Morris, Earthly Par., II. III. 350. Her teeth were set hard, and her brow was knit.
f. 1615. J. Chamberlain, in Crt. & Times Jas. I. (1848), I. 361. It were to no purpose to show our teeth unless we could bite.
1710. O. Sansom, Acc. Life, 330. He somewhat appeared at the Sessions at Wantage; shewing his Teeth in what he could; and thereby discovering what lodged in his Heart against us.
1742. Young, Love Fame, I. 17. When the law shews her teeth, but dares not bite.
1837. Carlyle, Fr. Rev., II. I. i. Such Patriotism as snarls dangerously and shows teeth.
g. 1600. Holland, Livy, VII. xxx. 269. At it their teeth water, that most goodly and beautifull cittie will they either destroy, or be LL. thereof themselves.
1698. Farquhar, Love & Bottle, V. i. Oh, my little green gooseberry, my teeth waters at ye!
1724. Littleton, Lat. Dict. (ed. 5), s.v., It makes my teeth water. Salivam mihi movet.
[1879: see teeth-watering in 9 b.]
h. For other phrases see the words involved, as
To take the bit in one’s teeth (BIT sb.1 8 d), to carry a bone in the teeth (BONE sb. 14 b), colt’s tooth (COLT sb. 8), to cut one’s teeth (CUT v. 38), to set the teeth on edge (EDGE sb. 4), to grind one’s teeth (GRIND v.1 10), to have the run of one’s teeth (RUN sb. 32 b), by or with the skin of one’s teeth (SKIN sb. 5 g), a sweet tooth (SWEET a.). For to lie in one’s teeth, see 1 c.
9. attrib. and Comb., as tooth-dint, -dye, -extraction, -point, -stainer, -stump; tooth-bred, -chattering, -extracting, -like, -setting, -shaped, -tempting adjs.; with many others of obvious meaning. Special combs.: tooth-ax, ‘a stone-cutters’ ax the edges of which are divided into blunt teeth’ (Cent. Dict. Suppl.); tooth-back, a moth of the family Notodontidæ, or its larva, which has a tooth-like prominence on the back; so tooth-backed a.; tooth-bearer = ODONTOPHORE; † tooth-blanch, a substance for whitening the teeth, a dentifrice; tooth-block, a block forming part of a machine for molding in sand the iron teeth of a gear-wheel; tooth-bone, (a) = DENTINE; (b) the bony substance or ‘cement’ of the teeth; tooth-chisel, a chisel with a toothed or serrated cutting edge, used by stone-masons; tooth-cleaner, a machine for dressing and finishing the teeth of cog-wheels (Knight, Dict. Mech., Suppl., 1884); tooth-comb, a small-tooth comb; tooth-coralline = SERTULARIA; tooth-cress = TOOTHWORT 3; tooth-doctor, a dentist; tooth-edge, the sensation of having the teeth ‘set on edge’ (see EDGE sb. 4); tooth-fern, a rendering of Odontopteris, a genus of fossil ferns; tooth-fever, fever accompanying teething; tooth-flower, a name for Dentella repens, a small creeping herb found in Australia, Polynesia, etc., having a tooth-like process on each petal of the flower; tooth-forceps, a forceps used by a dentist for extracting teeth; tooth-germ, the ‘germ’ or growth of tissue from which a tooth is developed; † tooth-iron, ? an instrument for extracting teeth; tooth-ivory = DENTINE; † tooth-key, a dentist’s instrument, turned like a key, formerly used for extracting teeth; tooth-mark, a mark made by a tooth in biting, or transf. by an edged tool; so tooth-marked a.; tooth-mill, a dentist’s drill-stock or drilling-machine; tooth ornament, Arch. a kind of ornament or molding suggesting a tooth or teeth: = DOG-TOOTH 3; † tooth-pain = TOOTHACHE; tooth-paste, a paste used for cleaning the teeth; tooth-plane TOOTHING-plane; tooth-plate (Dentistry) = PLATE sb. 4 f; tooth-plugger, an instrument for filling or stopping decayed teeth (Knight, 1884); tooth-powder, a powder used for cleaning the teeth, a dentifrice; also attrib., as tooth-powder box; † tooth-proof a., having teeth of tried strength or efficiency (cf. PROOF a. 1); tooth-puller, one who extracts teeth; tooth-pulling, extraction of a tooth or teeth; tooth-pulp, the soft cellular tissue around which the hard parts of a tooth are developed, and which fills the cavity of the fully formed tooth; tooth-rail, a tramway rail having teeth or cogs; tooth-rake, † (a) a toothpick (obs.); (b) a rake with teeth; tooth-rash, an eruptive disease incident to infants when teething; tooth-ribbon, the lingual ribbon or odontophore of certain mollusks; tooth-root = TOOTHWORT 1; tooth-sac, a sac or hollow structure of connective tissue, within which a tooth is developed; tooth-saw (Dentistry), a fine frame-saw for sawing off portions of the teeth (Knight, 1877); † tooth-scrape (obs.), tooth-scraper, an instrument for scraping the teeth, as a toothpick, or a dentist’s instrument; tooth-set a., set with teeth, having tooth-like projections; † tooth-shaken a., having the teeth loosened, as by age; tooth-soap, a preparation for cleaning the teeth; tooth-stick, † (a) a dentifrice in shape of a stick; (b) a stick used for cleaning the teeth; tooth(ed)-violet = TOOTHWORT 1; tooth-wark (now dial.) [cf. HEAD-WARK], toothache (cf. teeth-work in 9 b); tooth-wheel, a wheel with teeth, a toothed wheel, cog-wheel; tooth-winged a., having the wings toothed or notched on the outer margin, as certain butterflies; tooth-work, (a) ornamental work resembling teeth; (b) work done with the teeth, i.e., eating (nonce-use); tooth-wound, a wound inflicted by the tooth of an animal (cf. teeth-wound in 9 b); † tooth-wrest: see quot. See also TOOTH-BRUSH, -PICK, -SHELL, etc.
1872. Wood, Insects at Home, 470. A family of Moths called Notodontidæ, or *Tooth-backs.
1585. Higins, Junius’ Nomenclator, 260/2. Dentifricium,… tooth powder: tooth sope, or *tooth blanch.
1857. Dunglison, Med. Lex., s.v. Tooth, The ivory of the tooth or Dentine,… proper tooth substance, bone of the tooth, osseous substance of tooth, *tooth bone.
1878. T. Bryant, Pract. Surg., I. 557. The portion of the case that forms the root or roots is covered by ‘crusta petrosa’ or tooth-bone.
1642. A. Ross, Mel Heliconium (1643), 68. And then the Dragon, he did wound And all his *toothbread sonnes confound.
1845. Dickens, Chimes, 1. 6. And a breezy, goose-skinned, blue-nosed, red-eyed, stony-toed, *tooth-chattering place it was, to wait in, in the winter-time.
1887. Rider Haggard, Allan Quaterm., 73. A tooth-chattering cook.
1889. Stevenson, Master of B., 80. Alone … in this tooth-chattering desert.
1893. Westm. Gaz., 24 April, 4/3. The force was a mere *toothcomb in the face of the rioters.
1902. Sat. Rev., 1 Nov., 556/1. The rake with which Mr. Nield gathers together his authors is a very tooth-comb.
1873. Dawson, Earth & Man, iv. 73. The Sertulariæ or *tooth-corallines.
1863–79. Prior, Brit. Pl., *Tooth-cress, or Tooth-Violet,… Dentaria bulbifera.
1767. S. Paterson, Another Trav., I. 300. ’Tis the celebrated *tooth-doctor—he takes out your old teeth without any pain.
1884. C. G. W. Lock, Workshop Receipts, Ser. III. 312/1. Adding to crude or branch lacquer, about 5 per cent. of the *tooth dye (haguro) used by women.
1794. E. Darwin, Zoon., I. iii. 22. The disagreeable sensation called the *tooth-edge.
1898. P. Manson, Trop. Diseases, iv. 89. In such patients … *tooth extraction … may prove a dangerous matter.
1867. W. W. Smyth, Coal & Coal-mining, 37. The Odontopteris, or *tooth-fern.
1788. Charlotte Smith, Emmeline (1816), IV. 179. The child was very ill once with *tooth-fever.
1884. Miller, Plant-n., *Tooth-flower, Australian, Dentella repens.
1844. Dufton, Deafness, 91. A pair of *tooth-forceps was … employed.
1841. Penny Cycl., XX. 460/2. The number of successive *tooth-germs … behind the … functional teeth.
1483. Cath. Angl., 398/1. A *Tuthe yren, dentaria.
1851. Mantell, Petrifact., II. § 5. 255. The central body of dentine or *tooth-ivory.
1827. N. Arnott, Physics, I. 247. The *tooth-key is an instrument found in many hands.
1824. Morn. Post, 18 Nov., 2/4. Fanlike wheels, which at every ninety degrees of their circumference should have a *tooth-like protuberance fitting into a corresponding cavity in the iron railway.
1835–6. Todd’s Cycl. Anat., I. 312/1. A *tooth-like process on either side [of the bill].
1839. Bailey, Festus, ix. (1852), 99. The toothlike aching ruin of the body.
1889. C. C. R[hys], Up for the Season, etc., 53. A *tooth-mark left me by her black-and-tan.
1831. Trelawny, Adv. Younger Son, I. 52. Buttered toast, half eaten, and *tooth-marked.
1879. Thomson & Tait, Nat. Phil., I. I. § 109. The dentist’s *tooth-mill is an … illustration of the elastic universal flexure joint.
1840. Civil Eng. & Arch. Jrnl., III. 2/1. A narrow lancet opening, having the *tooth ornament in the hollow surrounding the same.
1592. Chettle, Kinde-harts Dr. (1841), 30. The only remedy for the *tooth paine, either to haue patience, or to pull them out.
1857. Dunglison, Med. Lex., *T[ooth] Paste, Dentifricium.
1823. P. Nicholson, Pract. Build., 246. The *Tooth-plane is fitted with a blade or iron, on the steel side of it covered with rakes or small grooves.
1880. M. Mackenzie, Dis. Throat & Nose, I. 411. Teeth, real or artificial, or *toothplates, become loosened during sleep.
1542. Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot., VIII. 89. Ane stoppell to keip the kingis grace *twithe pulder.
1823. J. Badcock, Dom. Amusem., 25. As a tooth-powder, nothing can exceed the virtues of charcoal.
1654. Gayton, Pleas. Notes, III. v. 101. The … more crusty meats fell to Sancho’s share, who was *tooth-proofe.
1839. J. Brown, Lett. (1907), 46. A good *tooth-puller can pull with any key or claw.
1850. Thackeray, Pendennis, lxi. No more than *tooth-pulling, or any other pang, eternal.
1854. R. Owen, Skel. & Teeth, in Orr’s Circ. Sc. I. Org. Nat., 265. The primary basis of the tooth, called *‘tooth-pulp.’
1862. Smiles, Engineers, III. 85. Mr. Blenkinsop of Leeds, in 1811, took out a patent for a racked or *tooth-rail.
1585. Higins, Junius’ Nomenclator, 260/2. Dentiscalpium.… Curedent. A tooth scraper, or *tooth-rake.
c. 1830. Pract. Treat. Roads, 17, in Libr. Usef. Knowl., Husb., III. Scratching it [the surface], with a tooth-rake regularly all over, as occasion requires.
1818–20. E. Thompson, Cullen’s Nosol. Method. (ed. 3), 321. Strophulus confertus, sometimes called the rank red gum and the *tooth rash.
1883. J. G. Wood, in Gd. Words, Sept., 603/2. The still more curious *‘tooth-ribbon’ set with its hundreds of hooked toothlets.
1890. Billings, Nat. Med. Dict., *Tooth-sac, connective-tissue structure enclosing the dentine germ and enamel-organ in the fœtal development of the teeth.
1552. Huloet, *Tothscrape instrument, dentiscalpium.
1585. *Tooth-scraper [see tooth-rake].
1860. Mayne, Expos. Lex., Tooth-scraper.
1860. Artist & Craftsman, 125. The *toothset edge of those eternal hills.
1650. Bulwer, Anthropomet., 140. Tooth-drawers and *Tooth-setting. Chyrurgions.
1549. Chaloner, Erasm. on Folly, F ij. Wrincled, *totheshaken … so desyrous yet of life.
1674. Josselyn, Voy. New Eng., 185. The Women are pittifully Tooth-shaken.
1837. P. Keith, Bot. Lex., 292. Peristomium … consists of a circular and double row of fine and *tooth-shaped substances.
1607. Topsell, Four-f. Beasts (1658), 401. That excellent powder, for the scowring and clensing of the teeth called *Tooth-soap.
1762. Goldsm., Cit. W., iii. Your nose-borers, feet-swathers, *tooth-stainers, eye-brow-pluckers.
1729. MS. Accounts, in N. & Q., 7th Ser. VII. 30/1. Disbursed at London … a silver *tooth-stick, 8 d.
1859. R. F. Burton, Centr. Afr., in Jrnl. Geog. Soc., XXIX. 323. Some of the more civilized have learned … to use a toothstick.
1862. Catal. Internat. Exhib., Brit., II. No. 3533. Improved *tooth-stump instrument.
1634. Fowldes, Homer’s Batt. Frogs & Mice, B v. No *tooth-tempting fare.
1863–79. *Tooth-Violet [see tooth-cress].
c. 1375. Sc. Leg. Saints, xxii. (Laurentius), 567. A man sa disesyt … Of *tuth-wark.
1862. Catal. Internat. Exhib., II. XII. 2. A series of shaftings and *tooth-wheels.
1891. Cent. Dict., *Tooth-winged.
1681. Grew, Musæum, I. VI. i. 133. The ridges also of the rounds are wrought with *Tooth-Work.
1899. Syd. Soc. Lex., *T[ooth] wounds, wounds inflicted by the teeth of animals which do not owe their gravity to poison, but to the laceration of the tissues.
1706. Phillips (ed. Kersey), *Tooth-wrest, an Instrument to draw, or pull out Teeth.
b. Combs. with the pl. teeth (most of which have corresponding forms in tooth-: see above), as teeth-ache (= TOOTHACHE), -brush (= TOOTHBRUSH), -chatter, -chattering sb. and adj., -dints (double pl. of tooth-dint), -edging a. (setting the teeth on edge), -filing, -gnashing sb. and adj., -grinding adj., -like adj., -mark, -plate, -pulps (double pl. of tooth-pulp), -watering (cf. phr. the teeth water in 8 g), † -wind (? a wind meeting one in the teeth), † -work (= tooth-wark), -wound.
1890. P. H. Emerson, Wild Life, xxii. 96. For *teeth-ache we rub the inside wi’ rum.
1651. Verney Mem. (1894), III. 39. A gift of the new Paris luxury—‘the *Teeth Brushes and boxes.’
1751. Smollett, Per. Pic. (1779), III. lxxx. 63. Waiting-women … who clean your teeth-brushes.
1834. Tait’s Mag., I. 43/2. He has managed to get up a masterly *teeth-chatter.
1796. Coleridge, Blossom 1st Feb., 3. This dark … *teeth-chattering month.
1887. Rider Haggard, Allan Quaterm., 91. He nearly aroused the Masai camp with teeth-chattering.
1839. Bailey, Festus, xviii. (1852), 241. The foul fiend’s *teeth-dints may be seen.
1603. Florio, Montaigne, II. xii. (1632), 336. That sharp, harsh, and *teethedging noise that Smiths make in filing of brasse.
1897. Mary Kingsley, W. Africa, 477. The *teeth-filing I think undoubtedly does arise from this.
a. 1711. Ken, Hymnotheo, Poet. Wks. 1721, III. 90. *Teeth-gnashing Envy at the Saints above.
1642. A. Ross, Mel Heliconium (1643), 175. *Teeth-grinding anger, with fierce-glowing eyes.
1865. Fall River Daily Even. News, 25 Sept., 2/1. Leaves [of the ‘screw pine’] more resembling the ram-projection of the sword fish, armed on each side with *teeth-like thorns.
1884. W. S. B. McLaren, Spinning (ed. 2), 6. Seeing the teeth-like edges which thus catch the fingers.
1898. R. Blakeborough, Wit, etc. N. Riding Yorks., 202. *Teeth-marks were found on … part of their body.
1900. Edin. Rev., April, 362. Their works bear the teethmark of their own age.
1897. Allbutt’s Syst. Med., III. 346. A badly fitting artificial *teeth-plate.
1859. J. Tomes, Dental Surg. (1873), 4. The depth of these bony cells is only sufficient to contain the developing teeth and *teeth-pulps.
1879. Calderwood, Mind & Br., 273. That result known as *‘teeth-watering,’ which may be described as a reminiscence of taste.
a. 1732. T. Boston, Crook in Lot (1863), 45. What a sad thing must it then be to lose this *teeth-wind for Immanuel’s land!
c. 1440. Thornton MS., lf. 176 (E.E.T.S.). A charme for þe *tethe worke.
1856. Kane, Arct. Expl., II. xv. 164. Five were scarred by direct *teeth-wounds of bears.
