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Crossword clues for tooth

tooth
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
tooth
noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
armed to the teeth (=carrying a lot of weapons)
▪ Many of the gangs are armed to the teeth.
baby tooth
bared...teeth
▪ The dog bared its teeth.
buck teeth
eye tooth
▪ I’d give my eye teeth to be able to play the piano like that.
false teeth
false teeth/hair/eyelashes etc
lie through your teeth (=say something that is completely untrue)
milk tooth
sank...teeth
▪ The dog sank its teeth into my arm.
set smile/teeth/jaw
▪ ‘Damn you,’ he said through set teeth.
tooth extracted
▪ You’ll have to have that tooth extracted.
tooth fairy
tooth powder
tooth/dental decay
▪ Eating too much sugar causes tooth decay.
wisdom tooth
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADJECTIVE
canine
▪ Most primates, for example, use their canine teeth for fighting.
▪ Using its long canine teeth, it can neatly nip fins or remove the eyes of its tankmates.
▪ In an attempt to shake me off, his elbow smashed into my face, breaking my nose and a canine tooth.
clenched
▪ The sharp hiss of an angry breath drawn through clenched teeth stopped him in his tracks.
▪ Mention his name to these pre-war survivors and you hear a sound like soup sucked through clenched teeth.
▪ With clenched teeth, keeping her head low and her eyes half-closed, she hugged the cliff-face and inched her way along.
▪ Through clenched teeth he hoped so.
▪ I walked through the dining-room, smiling, my head on one side, humming between clenched teeth.
▪ The hill where the hare crouched with clenched teeth.
▪ Barnett exhaled slowly through clenched teeth.
▪ Dada stood on the steps in the cold, shaking hands, saying something pleasant through clenched teeth.
false
▪ And she can't be the only young girl in the school with a full set of false teeth.
▪ Should I have taken the false teeth?
▪ He rummaged the bed - another fright, his life was full of them - for his false teeth.
▪ The officer was city-bred and educated, so that the false teeth appeared to him in a different light.
▪ This is rather a trivial example: if teeth were the only problem, senescence could be cured by false teeth.
▪ His lips were intensely smiling and his false teeth shone.
▪ Talk of false teeth in this setting?
▪ And indeed his mouth was empty; evidently he had removed his false teeth.
front
▪ She popped a fragment of biscuit into her mouth and crunched it primly with her front teeth.
▪ His four front teeth are through and two more in the upper jaw are pressing.
▪ Once she fell and when he picked her up, her front tooth was broken.
▪ One of his top front teeth is missing, and there are wide spaces between the others.
▪ A few years ago he punched me and knocked my front teeth out.
▪ Mr Hendricks ordered until Billy opened his mouth, revealing the black gap of a missing front tooth.
▪ A raisin lodged unattractively between Heather's front teeth but I chose not to tell her about it.
▪ Inman is thin, with a boyish face and a gap between his two front teeth.
gold
▪ Grover smiled mysteriously, his gold tooth gleaming.
▪ The taller man with the gold tooth asks Mundin, the only boy here, where his father is.
▪ He has a big square head, shaven almost bald; lots of gold teeth.
▪ The man with the gold tooth starts to laugh, cackle really.
▪ The guy laughed, wide smile dotted with gold teeth.
gritted
▪ She talks of her own upbringing in the Black Hills through gritted teeth.
▪ Somehow, with gritted teeth, her soul in torment, she got through the day and the night that followed.
▪ She'd thrown herself into it with gritted teeth, recklessly taking on more than she could handle.
▪ I always get one of the class to do the cutting - often with gritted teeth!
▪ Stop it, stop it! she instructed herself through gritted teeth.
▪ They were kissing each other through gritted teeth, so the story went.
▪ Calm down, she told herself, through gritted teeth.
isolated
▪ The jaws were unrecognizable by this stage, and all the teeth were exposed as isolated teeth.
▪ Most of these were isolated teeth, although the sample size for isolated teeth was small.
▪ The results of the analysis in Table 3.9 show that several species have consistent deficits of isolated teeth in their prey assemblages.
▪ All show the same pattern of generally high proportions of cranial and postcranial elements and low proportions of isolated teeth.
▪ Table 3.9 Comparison of numbers of isolated teeth in pellet samples with numbers missing from mandibles and maxillae.
▪ There remain to be considered the three species for which there is an apparent excess of isolated teeth.
long
▪ A vast pink tongue was hanging out of the creature's mouth between a pair of the longest, sharpest teeth imaginable.
▪ I opened my eyes and saw a set of long yellow teeth glowing right in front of my face.
▪ The venom is injected by means of long, hollow teeth called fangs.
▪ Using its long canine teeth, it can neatly nip fins or remove the eyes of its tankmates.
▪ A real character, but getting a bit long in the tooth.
▪ The huge jaws are fifteen feet long and spike-like teeth line the jaws, upper and lower.
▪ Bigwig's eyes were closed and his lips pulled back from the long front teeth in a fixed snarl.
▪ DataEase is a worthy contender, although it's a bit long in the tooth.
perfect
▪ He'd admire his long, blond hair, his bright blue eyes and his perfect white teeth.
▪ She smiled, showing a mouthful of perfect teeth.
▪ Harold was flexing his muscles for the perfect balance, teeth bared, knife poised over his head.
▪ Fifty or sixty perfect, pointed teeth gleamed between his parted lips.
▪ And even in the young, the children at school, it was rare to see regular perfect teeth.
sharp
▪ In its great jaws were dozens of sharp and curving teeth.
▪ A vast pink tongue was hanging out of the creature's mouth between a pair of the longest, sharpest teeth imaginable.
▪ Combat Bonus A charging war boar is a bad-tempered mound of bloody-minded muscle and bone with pointy tusks and sharp teeth.
▪ My sharp teeth sink themselves into its nose.
▪ They opened their mouths to show her sharp tongues and teeth, ready to bite, gobble her up.
▪ Tom's work mostly involves checking for sharp teeth and rasping them smooth.
▪ It has relatively large eyes and a small mouth, with small sharp teeth on both upper and lower jaws.
▪ Unlike most dinosaurs it had sharp teeth with which it ate smaller creatures.
small
▪ The male person who ordered the others around had a mouth full of small grey teeth.
▪ Her nose was quite prominent, and her small, even teeth were serrated at the edges.
▪ The two-lipped flower has two pairs of small teeth on the upper lip.
▪ It was a dead seal with light tan fur, open eyes, and a set of small, even teeth.
▪ It has relatively large eyes and a small mouth, with small sharp teeth on both upper and lower jaws.
▪ The lettuce was cut up into slices and had a mustard with small teeth inside it.
▪ Both have small, numerous teeth in their upper and lower jaws.
sweet
▪ What, then, is a melancholic with a sweet tooth to do?
▪ We have, we are told, a sweet tooth, and we're rather proud of it.
▪ These people had a vicious sweet tooth.
▪ Total abstinence from any sweeteners can cure a sweet tooth permanently - which is much better in the long term.
▪ I also have a very sweet tooth.
▪ Satisfy your sweet tooth with natural sugar - fructose - from fruit and berries.
▪ Jake may not have many teeth yet but developing a sweet tooth now could lead to decay later.
white
▪ His white teeth and brown oval eyes stood out in stark contrast against his dark tanned skin.
▪ She'd reach out towards them both and put her hands on theirs, smiling with her very white teeth.
▪ Fedallah Personal Description: Tall, swart, with one white tooth evilly protruding from his steel-like lips.
▪ Then she opens her pretty red lips and smiles with pretty white teeth.
▪ Hanging over the sidewalk was a wooden sign with a large white tooth painted on it.
▪ There was a picture on the page which showed a black man with open eyes and bright white teeth.
▪ A frond of endive approached his lips, hovered, was gripped firmly by admirably white teeth.
yellow
▪ With their ragged appearance, long yellow teeth and simple intelligence, they rank quite low on the social register.
▪ His yellow teeth gleamed in the abundant black of his full beard.
▪ He had pointed features and protruding yellow teeth.
▪ I opened my eyes and saw a set of long yellow teeth glowing right in front of my face.
▪ He worked the snaffle between the p'tar's huge yellow teeth, then hauled to bring the animal out of the stall.
▪ With his yellow teeth bared, he looked like a cornered man about to break and run.
▪ He gave us a grin of yellow teeth.
▪ Yes, it had a mouth full of teeth, yellow, shiny teeth.
■ NOUN
decay
▪ But half the sugar in the drink came from the milk and was not thought to cause tooth decay.
▪ Kleinberg says that fluoride, which is in most drinking water and toothpaste, protects against 30 percent of tooth decay.
▪ In some parts of the country fluoride is added to the water to help prevent tooth decay.
▪ Some toothpaste manufacturers force feed sweets to monkeys to study tooth decay.
▪ The advice was not restricted to the prevention of tooth decay.
▪ Urine was recommended as a mouthwash because its acidity was thought to prevent tooth decay!
▪ The University of Florida researcher has come up with a brilliantly simple way to tackle tooth decay.
▪ Professor Keen denied yesterday that natural sugars were a significant cause of tooth decay.
milk
▪ More than half have dental decay in their milk teeth, and she believes that the problem is increasing.
▪ In contrast, we evolved a system with a single tooth replacement, of milk teeth by adult teeth.
wisdom
▪ And you don't get your wisdom teeth until you're eighteen, at least.
▪ From the way Hanson set his elbows it looked as if it might be a wisdom tooth coming in.
▪ And carrots which looked like impacted wisdom teeth crossed with a fantasy of Edgar Allan Poe's.
▪ Of course, it was more than wisdom teeth they were going to be forced to cover.
▪ The opportunity soon came in the form of James's impacted wisdom teeth.
■ VERB
arm
▪ Bathore is armed to the teeth, from pistols to anti-tank guns looted from the government.
bare
▪ He bared his teeth and snarled.
▪ With his bared teeth and long, drawn face, Gao Ma looked just like his namesake, ma, the horse.
▪ He went after Isaac just as the crouching figure opened its enormous mouth, baring pointed brownish teeth.
▪ Spread throughout the pond, seven pale piles of limbs, bared teeth, faces curtained off by their hair.
▪ And there was Elder Seth, baring his teeth as he pushed her face into the asphalt.
▪ Chutra hooted, bared his teeth, scratched his ribs.
▪ He bared his teeth in the kiss and he nipped at her mouth.
▪ It may cringe away, or if cornered might bare its teeth unexpectedly.
brush
▪ She brushed her teeth in the bathroom.
▪ I go to the bathroom and brush my teeth.
▪ To his horror Henry saw that as he had been brushing her teeth he had started to grip her neck, hard.
▪ Get up. Brush your teeth, put on your jeans and go to the office.
▪ Then I brushed my teeth thoroughly with my electric toothbrush.
▪ Today you will get up, brush your teeth, eat breakfast, go to work.
▪ Even little boy Isopo brushes his teeth.
chatter
▪ Can't you hear her teeth chattering in the night?
▪ She shivered and her teeth chattered.
▪ My teeth are chattering like mad.
▪ My teeth were chattering, and the juice from the pear was dripping over my red wool mittens.
▪ My teeth were still chattering when the phone rang.
▪ His teeth chattered as he stood in front of the table.
▪ Doug's teeth begin to chatter.
▪ Wyatt was there, too, and Cyril as well, their teeth chattering in shock.
clean
▪ And evidence shows that women feel more inhibited by things like not having cleaned their teeth or feeling grubby.
▪ Always make sure you clean your teeth properly, using a small-headed brush and only a pea-sized blob of toothpaste.
▪ It was the water, the other reporters said, but she couldn't clean her teeth in beer.
▪ How often do you clean your teeth, Miss Harland?
▪ For the first time in her adult life, Polly went to bed without bathing or cleaning her teeth.
▪ She looked like a virgin who cleaned her teeth after every meal and delighted to take great bites from rosy apples.
▪ Back in the en suite bathroom, he briskly cleans his teeth and brushes his hair.
▪ Only drink bottled water - check the seal hasn't been broken - and use it to clean your teeth.
clench
▪ He clenched his teeth together but the first syllable forced itself around the corner of his mouth.
▪ I clenched my teeth, wondering what to do now.
▪ He clenched his teeth, pulled back his shoulders and began to stride up the road.
▪ He covered his face, grasped at a stick, a flash of clenched teeth real close before a punch blinded him.
▪ Jezrael clenched her teeth so hard against the torment that her jaws shuddered, but she didn't cry out.
▪ I clenched my teeth and closed my eyes as the plane headed straight into very uncertain, very uncharted territory indeed.
▪ The old man seems to be clenching his teeth.
cut
▪ He cut his teeth at places like Claridges; the Carlton, Cannes.
▪ There was considerable sniping from the Congress, particularly from the staffers who cut their eye teeth on Centralism principles.
▪ The entrepreneurial owner cut his teeth on a Schweizer 300 which he still owns.
▪ Sutton and Packford both cut their teeth on the old hot-metal newspaper production process.
▪ She cut her sporting teeth in the marketing department at Sheffield Wednesday.
cutting
▪ Not the most ceremonious release for a fresh faced coin still cutting its teeth.
▪ Millennium, which is still cutting its teeth on Tucson stages, is boldly determined to present local audiences with challenging productions.
extract
▪ Sampling for mammal fossils often involves the patient sieving of great quantities of sediment to extract the fossil teeth.
▪ Two out of three dentists said they had extracted teeth that they might have filled before the contract was introduced.
▪ Dentists had no financial incentive to extract teeth, he said.
fight
▪ Opponents in Parliament, which has to vote on the measure, vowed to fight it tooth and nail.
▪ He fought tooth and nail for 15 months before going to sleep one final night last week.
▪ They fought tooth and nail through an initial series of leagues and finished in seven knockout matches.
▪ I know we doctors have fought you tooth and nail.
▪ Exceptionally, if a Bill is extremely controversial, the opposition may fight it tooth and nail even at this stage.
▪ They fought tooth and nail to protect the solicitors' monopoly of conveyancing but eventually compromised by not objecting to licensed conveyancers.
▪ Mia has hired a top firm of lawyers and will fight the move tooth and nail.
▪ Legislation aimed at forcing the power firms to clean up their act is being fought tooth and nail by the polluters.
grind
▪ In a nervous person, grinds teeth.
▪ It fought back against his grinding teeth.
▪ Terry ground his teeth in consternation.
▪ For a while a man ground his teeth horribly, only feet away.
▪ It's my husband Deardrie - he keeps me awake at night, grinding his teeth!
▪ Mortally wounded, frothing at the mouth, grinding his teeth in pain, he chose the floor instead.
▪ I ground my teeth as I watched her crawl back into the machinery.
▪ His jaw ached and he realised that he was grinding his teeth, so he released the muscles and tried to relax.
grit
▪ She gritted her teeth and made it to her room in spite of everything.
▪ And a seizure makes you grit your teeth.
▪ She wouldn't say anything, vowed Isabel, gritting her teeth against the agonising pain in her side.
▪ He was gritting his teeth and was nauseated, and his eyes squinted in pain.
▪ Rory gritted his teeth, pulled.
▪ Sometimes the best you can do is grit your teeth and remind yourself that this will all seem funny some day.
▪ He gritted his teeth like a cliff.
▪ He gritted his teeth, angry at his tongue for having tripped him.
kick
▪ Graham sitting there waiting for me to kick him in the teeth.
▪ So they are all there, kicking our teeth in.
▪ That regulator, James McKinnon, was knighted on 1 January and kicked in the teeth on 15 January.
▪ If he had come begging and pleading, I would have laughed at him and kicked him in the teeth.
▪ I couldn't kick him in the teeth after three years of good work and live with myself.
lie
▪ Thou shalt not lie through thy teeth when in government. 12.
▪ Even when he's lying through his teeth, he never comes off as unsympathetic.
▪ He will lie through his teeth, saying anything he needs to get her into bed.
lose
▪ Now they're losing their teeth.
▪ She had lost too many teeth.
▪ Those who have lost their teeth and wear dentures should still visit their dentist every six months.
▪ His speech had altered as if he had lost his teeth.
▪ My stomach muscles were up to it, but I didn't want to lose any more teeth.
▪ I had lost two teeth, one eye was closed, and an ear torn.
▪ He lost his teeth and taste buds.
nail
▪ They fought tooth and nail to protect the solicitors' monopoly of conveyancing but eventually compromised by not objecting to licensed conveyancers.
▪ He would also fight tooth and nail to keep her from the likes of Tommy Allen.
pick
▪ Woolley picked his teeth with a matchstick.
▪ He began to pick his teeth with a toothpick.
▪ They were there at lunchtime and still there in the evening, just reading, picking their teeth, and watching.
▪ There was a long pause while he picked his teeth and looked down into the seat of his chair.
▪ He was picking his teeth with a match while some one on the phone talked his ear off.
▪ Hands to muzzle, he delicately picked his teeth.
▪ The man sawed very quickly with one hand and picked his teeth with the other hand.
▪ Well, pop a mint, our friends, head for the hills, and pick your teeth with a mesquite twig.
pull
▪ He worked the hot ember loose, leaving an empty socket like a pulled tooth.
▪ You can pull his teeth, smash his kneecaps, hammer nails into him if you like.
▪ But in fact the very first priority of a nuclear aggressor is to pull the teeth of his adversary.
▪ If Sagramoso's lackeys had pulled out my teeth, though!
▪ Our fathers wore out their backs at heavy, senseless labor, pulled their own teeth, lived with massive hemorrhoids.
▪ After the statement, her lips pulled back over her teeth like a gorilla trying to smile.
▪ Driving that home ought to be at least as much fun as pulling teeth.
set
▪ At other times their self-evident frustration sets your teeth on edge.
▪ She might set her teeth, burst into screams.
▪ That set our teeth on edge and bring our goose pimples rising like porpoises after mackerel.
▪ She set her teeth, top on bottom rows a calcium fortress.
▪ He w as filing arrow heads, and the sound of the metal on the whetstone set Burun's teeth on edge.
▪ Adam sprang up after her, and Ruth set her teeth and followed, slipping on the wet rock.
▪ She set her teeth, then, half stooping, sprang towards the next stone.
▪ On Joanna's instructions I set my teeth resolutely.
show
▪ Especially with that smile of his, that smile that just showed his teeth.
▪ He opened his eyes wide and showed his teeth.
▪ And here was Captain jumping out of the back of the car, showing his shark's teeth in a welcoming snarl.
▪ Because after the Anna Climbie case, the social services wanted to show it does have teeth.
▪ She would wrinkle her nose, show all her teeth and give a little puff of a snort.
▪ Perhaps I was showing too many teeth which could make me appear roguish and untrustworthy.
▪ He smiled without showing his teeth, a rubbery lip-smile.
sink
▪ I sat on the wheelbarrow and sank my teeth into a fresh loaf.
▪ They lurk in databases and jump out to sink their teeth in the writer's ankle.
▪ She gives a brief, cut-off little cry like a chirp as she comes, and sinks her teeth into my shoulder.
▪ Last winter a judge put a vet away for thirty-five years for sinking his teeth into sweet, succulent coed flesh.
▪ I grabbed it with my hand and sunk my teeth deep into it.
▪ Give me something I can sink my teeth into.
▪ The cat is transfixed by this appealing sight and pounces, sinking its teeth into the prey.
▪ Forget about sinking your teeth into it; touch it with your tongue, and it evaporates.
smile
▪ Mr Whistle smiled, teeth cutting his lips.
▪ His lips were intensely smiling and his false teeth shone.
▪ Giles was smiling, showing his teeth.
▪ Miguelito looked across at her and smiled, the white teeth showing in the darkness, even without a spotlight.
▪ When he smiled his upper teeth settled on his lower lip, and he discharged air between them.
▪ He stood up when Alexandra came into the bar, held out his hand, smiled, showing beautiful teeth.
▪ He smiled without showing his teeth, a rubbery lip-smile.
suck
▪ He sucked his teeth for a minute.
▪ But he just shook his head, sucked his teeth and shuffled out.
▪ Denis whisked open the fridge and sucked on his teeth.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a kick in the teeth
▪ That is why the settlement of 4.4 percent. is rightly described as a kick in the teeth.
by the skin of your teeth
▪ Jeff just got into college by the skin of his teeth.
▪ The business is surviving, but only by the skin of its teeth.
▪ The car broke down on the way to the airport and they just caught the plane by the skin of their teeth.
clean your teeth
▪ Always make sure you clean your teeth properly, using a small-headed brush and only a pea-sized blob of toothpaste.
▪ And evidence shows that women feel more inhibited by things like not having cleaned their teeth or feeling grubby.
▪ Back in the en suite bathroom, he briskly cleans his teeth and brushes his hair.
▪ For the first time in her adult life, Polly went to bed without bathing or cleaning her teeth.
▪ How often do you clean your teeth, Miss Harland?
▪ Only drink bottled water - check the seal hasn't been broken - and use it to clean your teeth.
▪ She looked like a virgin who cleaned her teeth after every meal and delighted to take great bites from rosy apples.
clench your fists/teeth/jaw etc
▪ He clenched his fists and remained where he was.
▪ He clenched his fists even tighter.
▪ He clenched his fists in frustration and annoyance.
▪ He clenched his teeth together but the first syllable forced itself around the corner of his mouth.
▪ He clenched his teeth, pulled back his shoulders and began to stride up the road.
▪ I clenched my teeth, wondering what to do now.
▪ Papa clenched his fists and lips in the dark wood.
cut your teeth (on sth)
▪ He cut his teeth at places like Claridges; the Carlton, Cannes.
▪ Sutton and Packford both cut their teeth on the old hot-metal newspaper production process.
▪ The entrepreneurial owner cut his teeth on a Schweizer 300 which he still owns.
fight tooth and nail (for sth)/fight sth tooth and nail
get the bit between your teeth
gnash your teeth
▪ An unlikely assassin was left-winger Jason Wilcox, a youth team star while Dalglish was still gnashing his teeth at Anfield.
▪ But he has spent three or four years out in the darkness, gnashing his teeth.
▪ Gacbler and his colleagues would often be stymied by some problem, gnashing their teeth and getting nowhere.
▪ He kept baring and gnashing his teeth. 21.
▪ He laid her on the kang, wailing and gnashing his teeth.
▪ Their heads thrash about on the bloodied floor, gnashing their teeth and foaming at the mouth.
▪ Then he threw up his hands and wailed and gnashed his teeth, for the world had already touched his father.
go through/over sth with a fine-tooth comb
grind your teeth
▪ traffic problems that make us grind our teeth
▪ For a while a man ground his teeth horribly, only feet away.
▪ His jaw ached and he realised that he was grinding his teeth, so he released the muscles and tried to relax.
▪ I ground my teeth as I watched her crawl back into the machinery.
▪ It's my husband Deardrie - he keeps me awake at night, grinding his teeth!
▪ Mortally wounded, frothing at the mouth, grinding his teeth in pain, he chose the floor instead.
▪ She was grinding her teeth, until the taste of blood made her stop.
▪ Small Dave ground his teeth and spat into the daylight.
▪ Terry ground his teeth in consternation.
grit your teeth
▪ I guess I'll have to just grit my teeth and wait for things to get better.
▪ I was desperately unhappy in that job, but had to grit my teeth and stay smiling for the sake of my children.
▪ Rescue workers here have little choice but to grit their teeth and get on with the grim task of recovering the bodies.
▪ And a seizure makes you grit your teeth.
▪ He gritted his teeth against the demand of his lungs to burst.
▪ He gritted his teeth like a cliff.
▪ I gritted my teeth and went to work.
▪ Rory gritted his teeth, pulled.
▪ She continued to grit her teeth in silence.
▪ She would grit her teeth and take everything he threw at her - for the time being.
have a sweet tooth
▪ Danny's always had a sweet tooth.
▪ If you have a sweet tooth, it is much better to make them part of a meal.
kick sb in the teeth
▪ Graham sitting there waiting for me to kick him in the teeth.
▪ I couldn't kick him in the teeth after three years of good work and live with myself.
▪ If he had come begging and pleading, I would have laughed at him and kicked him in the teeth.
kick sb's head/face/teeth in
▪ But they would kick your head in if you spilt their pint just the same.
▪ It goes with some people wanting to kick my head in.
▪ Lou and Van burst into tears and Hamburglar kicks their heads in.
▪ So they are all there, kicking our teeth in.
long in the tooth
▪ Some of our vehicles are getting a bit long in the tooth.
▪ A real character, but getting a bit long in the tooth.
▪ Although they were solid and durable, the old machines were getting a bit long in the tooth.
▪ DataEase is a worthy contender, although it's a bit long in the tooth.
▪ It's worth the extra money Hewlett-Packard's DeskJet 840C looks, if anything, a little long in the tooth.
pick your teeth
▪ Hands to muzzle, he delicately picked his teeth.
▪ He began to pick his teeth with a toothpick.
▪ He was picking his teeth with a match while some one on the phone talked his ear off.
▪ The man sawed very quickly with one hand and picked his teeth with the other hand.
▪ There was a long pause while he picked his teeth and looked down into the seat of his chair.
▪ They were there at lunchtime and still there in the evening, just reading, picking their teeth, and watching.
▪ Well, pop a mint, our friends, head for the hills, and pick your teeth with a mesquite twig.
▪ Woolley picked his teeth with a matchstick.
sb would give their eye teeth for sth
sth is like pulling teeth
▪ Getting the kids to do their homework was like pulling teeth.
the tooth fairy
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ Brush your teeth twice a day.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ Brush your teeth, put on your jeans and go to the office.
▪ Even sociology, it turns out, can be red in tooth and claw.
▪ He retrieved his birds, the globe, the teeth, a few books.
▪ The chimpanzee then pulls out the grass stem and picks off the termites with its teeth, smacking its lips with pleasure.
▪ Their immediate diagnosis was that the patient had swallowed her false teeth.
▪ We were both the sort of people who just can't let go once they have got their teeth into something.
▪ With clenched teeth, keeping her head low and her eyes half-closed, she hugged the cliff-face and inched her way along.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Tooth

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.

    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.

    1. A projecting member resembling a tenon, but fitting into a mortise that is only sunk, not pierced through.

    2. One of several steps, or offsets, in a tusk. See Tusk.

  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. (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

Tooth \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.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
tooth

Old English toð (plural teð), from Proto-Germanic *tan-thuz (cognates: Old Saxon, Danish, Swedish, Dutch tand, Old Norse tönn, Old Frisian toth, Old High German zand, German Zahn, Gothic tunþus), from PIE *dent- "tooth" (cognates: Sanskrit danta, Greek odontos, Latin dens, Lithuanian dantis, Old Irish det, Welsh dent). Plural form teeth is an instance of i-mutation.\n

\nApplication to tooth-like parts of other objects (saws, combs, etc.) first recorded 1520s. Tooth and nail as weapons is from 1530s. The tooth-fairy is attested from 1964.

Wiktionary
tooth

n. 1 A hard, calcareous structure present in the mouth of many vertebrate animals, generally used for eating. 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 (context botany English) A pointed projection from the margin of a leaf. 5 (context animation English) The rough surface of some kinds of cel or other films that allow better adhesion of artwork. 6 (context figurative English) taste; palate vb. 1 To provide or furnish with teeth. 2 To indent; to jag. 3 To lock into each other, like gear wheels.

WordNet
tooth
  1. n. hard bonelike structures in the jaws of vertebrates; used for biting and chewing or for attack and defense

  2. something resembling the tooth of an animal

  3. toothlike structure in invertebrates found in the mouth or alimentary canal or on a shell

  4. a means of enforcement; "the treaty had no teeth in it"

  5. one of a number of uniform projections on a gear

  6. [also: teeth (pl)]

Wikipedia
Tooth

A tooth (plural teeth) is a small, calcified, whitish structure found in the jaws (or mouths) of many vertebrates and used to break down food. Some animals, particularly carnivores, also use teeth for hunting or for defensive purposes. The roots of teeth are covered by gums. Teeth are not made of bone, but rather of multiple tissues of varying density and hardness. The cellular tissues that ultimately become teeth originate from the embryonic germ layer, the ectoderm.

The general structure of teeth is similar across the vertebrates, although there is considerable variation in their form and position. The teeth of mammals have deep roots, and this pattern is also found in some fish, and in crocodilians. In most teleost fish, however, the teeth are attached to the outer surface of the bone, while in lizards they are attached to the inner surface of the jaw by one side. In cartilaginous fish, such as sharks, the teeth are attached by tough ligaments to the hoops of cartilage that form the jaw.

Some animals develop only one set of teeth (monophyodont) while others develop many sets (polyphyodont). Sharks, for example, grow a new set of teeth every two weeks to replace worn teeth. Rodent incisors grow and wear away continually through gnawing, which helps maintain relatively constant length. The industry of the beaver is due in part to this qualification. Many rodents such as voles and guinea pigs, but not mice, as well as leporidae like rabbits, have continuously growing molars in addition to incisors.

Teeth are not always attached to the jaw, as they are in mammals. In many reptiles and fish, teeth are attached to the palate or to the floor of the mouth, forming additional rows inside those on the jaws proper. Some teleosts even have teeth in the pharynx. While not true teeth in the usual sense, the dermal denticles of sharks are almost identical in structure, and are likely to have the same evolutionary origin. Indeed, teeth appear to have first evolved in sharks, and are not found in the more primitive jawless fish - while lampreys do have tooth-like structures on the tongue, these are in fact, composed of keratin, not of dentine or enamel, and bear no relationship to true teeth. Though "modern" teeth-like structures with dentine and enamel have been found in late conodonts, they are now supposed to have evolved independently of later vertebrates' teeth.

Living amphibians typically have small teeth, or none at all, since they commonly feed only on soft foods. In reptiles, teeth are generally simple and conical in shape, although there is some variation between species, most notably the venom-injecting fangs of snakes. The pattern of incisors, canines, premolars and molars is found only in mammals, and to varying extents, in their evolutionary ancestors. The numbers of these types of teeth varies greatly between species; zoologists use a standardised dental formula to describe the precise pattern in any given group.

Tooth (disambiguation)

A tooth (plural teeth) is a small, calcified, whitish structure found in the jaws (or mouths) of many vertebrates.

Tooth or Teeth may also refer to:

  • Human tooth for teeth in humans
  • Egg tooth, used by hatchlings to break through an eggshell
  • Teething, the process by which an infant's teeth sequentially appear by breaking through the gums
  • Teeth (band), a Filipino rock band
  • Teeth (film), a 2007 comedy horror film
  • "Teeth", a song by Lady Gaga from her EP The Fame Monster
  • Teeth, a 1998 novel by Hugh Gallagher (humorist)
  • "Teeth", a song by Cage the Elephant from Melophobia
  • "Teeth", a song by Fireworks from their 2011 album Gospel

Usage examples of "tooth".

Gritting her teeth against the pain, Abigail rolled to the side that Jane was directing her.

There was a pain as of abrading flesh, and it came up: a fishlike creature with a disk for a head, myriad tiny teeth projecting.

To his surprise, thirty years afterward, one of the teeth was removed from an abscess of the tongue.

But the truth would be harder to extract from that stern, scar-twisted mouth, than the abscessed tooth had been.

Then I suffered a vision of Acer Laidlaw piloting Eightball back to Roderick Station with a hold full of atoms that had once been mine, and gritted my teeth so hard I cracked a filling.

Lepi, who though a hunchback was very talented and an excellent actress, was sure of exciting desire by the rare beauty of her eyes and teeth, which latter challenged admiration from her enormous mouth by their regularity and whiteness.

But the crowders, like their common adapid ancestors, relied heavily on the caterpillars and grubs they snatched from the branches, and they had sharp, narrow teeth to process their insect prey.

It would just be me and her on a high hill and me rolling the rocks down the hill faces and teeth and all by God until she was quiet and not that goddamn adze going One lick less.

The bunches of agrimony hanging head downward inside the warm dark cave were an infusion of the dried flowers and leaves useful for bruises and injuries to internal organs, as much as they were tall slender perennials with toothed leaves and tiny yellow flowers growing on tapering spikes.

Juss, enforcing his half frozen limbs to resume the ascent, beheld a sight of woe too terrible for the eye: a young man, helmed and graithed in dark iron, a black-a-moor with goggle-eyes and white teeth agrin, who held by the neck a fair young lady kneeling on her knees and clasping his as in supplication, and he most bloodily brandishing aloft his spear of six foot of length as minded to reave her of her life.

His tongue probed at the gap where Alacrity had knocked out two of his teeth.

Twain brought a dental unit with her and, in an astoundingly short time, initiated the growth of teeth to replace the ones Alacrity had knuckled loose.

Paen said, gritting his teeth against the pain that threatened to swamp him at the thought of what the alastor was saying.

In the instant before the arrow struck, the Alaunt twisted and leaped, snatching the arrow out of the air in his teeth.

It uses albumin as a cement to build up bone structure and it is concerned with the formation of teeth, hence its value to children.