teeth
Dated spelling of teethe (“to grow teeth”).
Noun form of, plural
- plural of tooth
Synonyms: chompers Hampstead Heath pearly whites teefies
- Unpleasant oral sex
- She gives straight teeth.
Origin
From Middle English teth, plural of tothe, from Old English tēþ, nominative plural of tōþ, from earlier *tœ̄þ, from Proto-Germanic *tanþiz, nominative plural of *tanþs, from Proto-Indo-European *h₃dóntes, nominative plural of *h₃dónts.
Noun informal, plural
- The ability to be enforced, or to be enforced to any useful effect.
- The international community's sanctions against the regime had some teeth to them this time around.
Synonyms: enforceability
Derived
armed to the teeth arm to the teeth bare one's teeth better than a kick in the teeth bit between one's teeth bone apple teeth bone in her teeth British teeth brush one's teeth by God's teeth by the skin of one's teeth cast in someone's teeth cast something in someone's teeth cut one's teeth devil's teeth dragon's teeth elephant's teeth false teeth fed up to the back teeth fed up to the teeth front teeth get one's teeth into give one's eye-teeth gnash one's teeth
Verb
- Dated spelling of teethe (“to grow teeth”).
- Thus, a mother should not think that there is something wrong just because her baby teeths, crawls, walks, or talks earlier or later than her neighbor's baby. - 1943, Herman Niels Bundesen, Our Babies, page 81: