from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Tooth \Tooth\ (t[=oo]th), n.; pl. {Teeth} (t[=e]th). [OE.
toth,tooth, AS. t[=o][eth]; akin to OFries. t[=o]th, OS. & D.
tand, OHG. zang, zan, G. zahn, Icel. t["o]nn, Sw. & Dan.
tand, Goth. tumpus, Lith. dantis, W. dant, L. dens, dentis,
Gr. 'odoy`s, 'odo`ntos, Skr. danta; probably originally the
p. pr. of the verb to eat. [root]239. Cf. {Eat}, {Dandelion},
{Dent} the tooth of a wheel, {Dental}, {Dentist}, {Indent},
{Tine} of a fork, {Tusk}. ]
1. (Anat.) One of the hard, bony appendages which are borne
on the jaws, or on other bones in the walls of the mouth
or pharynx of most vertebrates, and which usually aid in
the prehension and mastication of food.
[1913 Webster]
Note: The hard parts of teeth are principally made up of
dentine, or ivory, and a very hard substance called
enamel. These are variously combined in different
animals. Each tooth consist of three parts, a crown, or
body, projecting above the gum, one or more fangs
imbedded in the jaw, and the neck, or intermediate
part. In some animals one or more of the teeth are
modified into tusks which project from the mouth, as in
both sexes of the elephant and of the walrus, and in
the male narwhal.
In adult man there are thirty-two teeth, composed
largely of dentine, but the crowns are covered with
enamel, and the fangs with a layer of bone called
cementum. Of the eight teeth on each half of each jaw,
the two in front are incisors, then come one canine,
cuspid, or dog tooth, two bicuspids, or false molars,
and three molars, or grinding teeth. The milk, or
temporary, teeth are only twenty in number, there being
two incisors, one canine, and two molars on each half
of each jaw. The last molars, or wisdom teeth, usually
appear long after the others, and occasionally do not
appear above the jaw at all.
[1913 Webster]
How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is
To have a thankless child! --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
2. Fig.: Taste; palate.
[1913 Webster]
These are not dishes for thy dainty tooth. --Dryden.
[1913 Webster]
3. 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.
[1913 Webster]
4.
(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}.
[1913 Webster]
[1913 Webster]
5. (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}.
[1913 Webster]
6. (Zool.) 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.
[1913 Webster]
{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} (Zool.), 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 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.
[1913 Webster]