: one of the hard bony appendages that are borne on the jaws or in many of the lower vertebrates on other bones in the walls of the mouth or pharynx and serve especially for the prehension and mastication of food and as weapons of offense and defense
b
: any of various usually hard and sharp processes especially about the mouth of an invertebrate
2
: a projection resembling or suggesting the tooth of an animal in shape, arrangement, or action
a saw tooth
: such as
a
: any of the regular projections on the circumference or sometimes the face of a wheel that engage with corresponding projections on another wheel especially to transmit force : cog
b
: a small sharp-pointed marginal lobe or process on a plant
3
a
teeth plural: effective means of enforcement
drug laws with teeth
b
: something that injures, tortures, devours, or destroys
C dentition of adult human (upper) D dentition of adult human (lower)
1 incisors
2 canines
3 bicuspids
4 molars
Examples of tooth in a Sentence
The dentist will have to pull that tooth.
You should brush your teeth every morning and night.
She clenched her teeth in anger.
He has a set of false teeth.
the teeth of a saw
The labor union showed that it has teeth.
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After filling our brushes with mouthwash from docking station reservoirs, Sarah and I brushed our teeth side-by-side (a first for both of us professionally).—
Jenny Bailly,
Allure,
1 Sep. 2026 Gere cut his teeth on the stage, starring in starring in a 1973 production of Grease in London, as well as Taming of the Shrew.—
Stephanie Sengwe,
PEOPLE,
31 Aug. 2026 Bugs Bunny jams himself against the edge and grits his teeth in agony.—
Laura Preston,
New Yorker,
30 Aug. 2026 This can lead women to clench their jaws or pelvic muscles, or grind their teeth.—
Bella Webb,
Vogue,
28 Aug. 2026 See All Example Sentences for tooth
Word History
Etymology
Middle English, from Old English tōth; akin to Old High German zand tooth, Latin dent-, dens, Greek odont-, odous
First Known Use
before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a
Time Traveler
The first known use of tooth was
before the 12th century
: any of the hard bony appendages that are borne on the jaws and serve especially for the prehension and mastication of food see milk tooth, permanent tooth
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