fang

1
[ fang ]
See synonyms for fang on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. one of the long, sharp, hollow or grooved teeth of a venomous snake by which poison is injected.

  2. a canine tooth.

  1. a tooth resembling a dog's.

  2. the root of a tooth.

  3. one of the chelicerae of a spider.

  4. a pointed, tapering part of a thing.

  5. Machinery. the tang of a tool.

Origin of fang

1
First recorded before 1050; Middle English “prey, purchase, spoils,” Old English: “booty”; cognate with German Fang “capture, booty,” Old Norse fang “a grasp, hold”; see also fang2

Other words from fang

  • fanged [fangd], /fæŋd/, adjective
  • fang·less, adjective
  • fang·like, adjective
  • un·fanged, adjective

Other definitions for fang (2 of 3)

fang2
[ fang ]

verb (used with object)British Dialect.
  1. to seize; grab.

Origin of fang

2
First recorded before 900; Middle English fangen, fengen, earlier and Old English fon “to seize, catch”; cognate with Old Saxon fangan and fahan, German fangen and fahen, Old Icelandic fangan and

Other definitions for Fang (3 of 3)

Fang
[ fang, fahng, fahn ]

noun,plural Fangs, (especially collectively) Fang for 1.
  1. Also called Pahouin, Pangwe. a member of an Indigenous people of Gabon, Cameroon, and adjacent areas.

  2. the Bantu language spoken by this people.

  • Also Fan [fan, fahn] /fæn, fɑn/ .

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use fang in a sentence

  • She might struggle for her freedom, but she could not hope to avoid the darting, poisonous fangs of the snake.

  • It could scarcely send its poisonous fangs through her heavy boot, she reminded herself desperately.

  • He would not even know of its presence, until it had made its spring, and its fangs were in his neck.

    The Shepherd of the Hills | Harold Bell Wright
  • The creature was over seven feet long, and a bite from its fangs would quickly have proved fatal.

    In the Wilds of Florida | W.H.G. Kingston
  • One dog struck at the buck's throat, another dashed his sharp nose and fangs, I might almost say, into the animal's bowels.

    The Fortunes of Nigel | Sir Walter Scott

British Dictionary definitions for fang (1 of 3)

fang1

/ (fæŋ) /


noun
  1. the long pointed hollow or grooved tooth of a venomous snake through which venom is injected

  2. any large pointed tooth, esp the canine or carnassial tooth of a carnivorous mammal

  1. the root of a tooth

  2. (usually plural) British informal tooth: clean your fangs

Origin of fang

1
Old English fang what is caught, prey; related to Old Norse fang a grip, German Fang booty

Derived forms of fang

  • fanged, adjective
  • fangless, adjective
  • fanglike, adjective

British Dictionary definitions for fang (2 of 3)

fang2

/ (fæŋ) Australian informal /


verb(intr)
  1. to drive at great speed

noun
  1. an act or instance of driving in such a way: we took the car for a fang

Origin of fang

2
C20: from Juan Manuel Fangio

British Dictionary definitions for Fang (3 of 3)

Fang

/ (fæŋ, fɑːŋ) /


noun
  1. plural Fangs or Fang a member of a Negroid people of W Africa, living chiefly in the rain forests of Gabon and Rio Muni: noted for their use of iron and copper money and for their sculpture

  2. the language of this people, belonging to the Bantu group of the Niger-Congo family

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for fang

fang

[ făng ]


  1. A long, pointed tooth in vertebrate animals or a similar structure in spiders, used to seize prey and sometimes to inject venom. The fangs of a poisonous snake, for example, have a hollow groove through which venom flows.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.