Definitions for: Tooth


[n] a means of enforcement; "the treaty had no teeth in it"
[n] toothlike structure in invertebrates found in the mouth or alimentary canal or on a shell
[n] something resembling the tooth of an animal
[n] one of a number of uniform projections on a gear
[n] hard bonelike structures in the jaws of vertebrates; used for biting and chewing or for attack and defense



Webster (1913) Definition: Tooth, n.; pl. Teeth. [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.

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.

How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is To have
a thankless child ! --Shak.

2. Fig.: Taste; palate.

These are not dishes for thy dainty tooth. --Dryden.

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.

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.



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.

6. (Zo["o]l.) 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 (Zo["o]l.), 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.


Tooth, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Toothed; p. pr. & vb. n.
Toothing.]
1. To furnish with teeth.

The twin cards toothed with glittering wire.
--Wordsworth.

2. To indent; to jag; as, to tooth a saw.

3. To lock into each other. See Tooth, n., 4. --Moxon.

See Also: adult tooth, agency, anatomical structure, anterior, baby tooth, back tooth, bicuspid, bodily structure, body structure, bone, canine, canine tooth, carnassial tooth, chopper, cog, cogwheel, comb, complex body part, conodont, crown, cusp, cuspid, deciduous tooth, denticle, dentin, dentine, dentition, dogtooth, eye tooth, eyetooth, fang, front tooth, gear, gear wheel, grinder, incisor, malposed tooth, means, milk tooth, molar, os, pearly, permanent tooth, posterior, power saw, premolar, primary tooth, projection, pulp, pulp cavity, root, saw, sawing machine, sprocket, structure, stump, teeth, tooth root, tusk, way

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