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tooth

tooth

26 6.6
A small pointed part on a machine or tool that fits with others
  • noun
  • /tuːθ/
  • Specialized
: diente
  • The clock mechanism has small teeth that help it keep accurate time.
  • gear tooth
  • tooth of a comb
  • cut a tooth

My next tip is use a wide tooth comb.

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Examples

  • The saw's teeth are sharp and can easily cut through wood.

  • The Brotherhood fought tooth and nail against postponing elections, which would give other parties time to organize.

    Academic text (2011)
  • You push down on the spring, disengage the teeth like that.

  • And this goes just like teeth on the gear and the other, the flat end on the bearings.

  • Okay, when are you gonna furnish me with the particulars, because an estate agent needs something he can sink his teeth into.

  • In the distance, mountains were pushed up, jagged white teeth from broken white gums.

    Fiction book (1990)
  • A gear's teeth interlock with another gear to transmit motion.

Synonyms

serration
vstooth
3 7.7

An edge with small tooth-like notches, like on a knife or leaf

is a single part or projection rather than the whole notched edge
sawtooth
vstooth
1 6.4

A tooth-shaped point on a saw blade that helps it cut wood

is a general small projecting part on objects rather than a single blade notch

Idioms

tooth and nail
  • Informal
20 5.8

You try very hard and do not give up

Look through something very carefully to find small mistakes

7 7.8

Old or getting old and not as good as before

tooth and claw
  • Literature
2 7.8

To fight very hard and often unfairly to win

To punish someone in the same way they hurt another person

Compounds

tooth fairy
  • Baby Talk
58 3.8

An imaginary person who takes a child's lost baby tooth and leaves money under the pillow

24 1.0

A tooth at the front of the mouth used for cutting food

sweet tooth
  • Informal
23 2.8

A strong liking for sweet foods like candy and cake

15 1.2

A tooth that children have before their adult teeth grow

12 3.2

A back tooth that usually appears in the late teens or early adult years

fine-tooth comb
  • Informal
8 4.3

A careful search that finds small mistakes or details

tooth decay
  • Specialized
7 2.2

Damage to a tooth's hard surface caused by bacteria that often makes a hole

3 3.3

A pointed tooth next to the front teeth that tears food

3 2.2

A tooth at the back of the mouth, like a molar

eye tooth
  • Archaic
2 6.7

A pointed tooth next to the front teeth in each jaw

tooth enamel
  • Specialized
2 4.1

The hard white outer layer that covers the top of a tooth

An adult tooth that replaces a baby one and should last most of life

1 2.3

A tooth that replaces a baby tooth and stays in the mouth

impacted tooth
  • Specialized
1 5.4

A tooth that cannot come through the gum because other teeth block it

abscessed tooth
  • Specialized
1 5.6

A tooth with a painful, infected swelling in the gum

tooth socket
  • Specialized
1 4.2

A hollow in the jaw where a tooth sits

1 3.4

One of a child's first teeth that falls out and is replaced by an adult tooth

A child's first tooth that falls out when an adult one grows

tooth powder
  • Archaic
1 3.3

A powder used to clean teeth instead of toothpaste

deciduous tooth
  • Specialized
1 3.3

A child's baby tooth that falls out and is replaced by an adult tooth

A comb with very close teeth used to remove lice from hair

carnassial tooth
  • Specialized
1 9.7

A large sharp tooth in meat-eating mammals for cutting meat from bone

1 5.7

A liking for sour foods

A cloth pattern of small broken checks usually black and white

tooth shell
  • Specialized
1 9.9

A sea animal that has a long thin shell open at both ends and a foot for digging in sand

mouse-tooth forceps
  • Specialized
1 7.0

A small surgical tool that has tiny teeth at the tips and holds delicate body tissue

tooth fungus
  • Specialized
1 9.9

A mushroom with small spines under its cap instead of gills

1 7.0

A nerve disease that runs in families and makes the muscles of the hands and lower legs weak and thin

bleeding tooth
  • Specialized
9.9

A sea snail with red, tooth-like ridges at the shell opening

The first baby tooth of a young horse sometimes kept as a lucky charm

dog's-tooth violet
  • Specialized
9.9

A small plant that grows in woods and makes pretty spring flowers and is grown in gardens

A small jagged check pattern on fabric often black and white

large tooth aspen
  • Specialized
6.5

A tree from eastern North America with large leaves that have rough edges and light bark

malposed tooth
  • Specialized
9.3

A tooth that grows in the wrong place in the mouth

A strong craving for salty foods like chips or pretzels

tooth-drawer
  • Archaic
9.9

A tool for pulling out teeth used in old dental care

A North American spring flower with white petals and a yellow center

How Pointed

to spike
  • NSFW
14 3.7
tine
9 8.1
tooth
  • Specialized
26 6.6
nub
14 6.9

Surface Forms

tooth singular
teeth plural

Etymology

Tooth kept its meaning of a hard point and was used for parts of tools and machines that look or work like a tooth, so a gear or saw has 'teeth' because each little projection fits with others like real teeth do.