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long in the tooth

 - 7 dictionary results

tooth

[tooth] ,noun, plural teeth, verb, toothed [tootht, toothd] , tooth⋅ing [too-thing, -thing] .
–noun
1. (in most vertebrates) one of the hard bodies or processes usually attached in a row to each jaw, serving for the prehension and mastication of food, as weapons of attack or defense, etc., and in mammals typically composed chiefly of dentin surrounding a sensitive pulp and covered on the crown with enamel.
2. (in invertebrates) any of various similar or analogous processes occurring in the mouth or alimentary canal, or on a shell.
3. any projection resembling or suggesting a tooth.
4. one of the projections of a comb, rake, saw, etc.
5. Machinery.
a. any of the uniform projections on a gear or rack by which it drives, or is driven by, a gear, rack, or worm.
b. any of the uniform projections on a sprocket by which it drives or is driven by a chain.
6. Botany.
a. any small, toothlike marginal lobe.
b. one of the toothlike divisions of the peristome of mosses.
7. a sharp, distressing, or destructive attribute or agency.
8. taste, relish, or liking.
9. a surface, as on a grinding wheel or sharpening stone, slightly roughened so as to increase friction with another part.
10. a rough surface created on a paper made for charcoal drawing, watercolor, or the like, or on canvas for oil painting.
–verb (used with object)
11. to furnish with teeth.
12. to cut teeth upon.
–verb (used without object)
13. to interlock, as cogwheels.
14. by the skin of one's teeth, barely: He got away by the skin of his teeth.
15. cast or throw in someone's teeth, to reproach someone for (an action): History will ever throw this blunder in his teeth.
16. cut one's teeth on, to do at the beginning of one's education, career, etc., or in one's youth: The hunter boasted of having cut his teeth on tigers.
17. in the teeth of,
a. so as to face or confront; straight into or against: in the teeth of the wind.
b. in defiance of; in opposition to: She maintained her stand in the teeth of public opinion.
18. long in the tooth, old; elderly.
19. put teeth in or into, to establish or increase the effectiveness of: to put teeth into the law.
20. set one's teeth, to become resolute; prepare for difficulty: He set his teeth and separated the combatants.
21. set or put one's teeth on edge,
a. to induce an unpleasant sensation.
b. to repel; irritate: The noise of the machines sets my teeth on edge.
22. show one's teeth, to become hostile or threatening; exhibit anger: Usually friendly, she suddenly began to show her teeth.
23. to the teeth, entirely; fully: armed to the teeth; dressed to the teeth in furs.

Origin:
bef. 900; ME; OE tōth; c. D tand, G Zahn, ON tǫnn; akin to Goth tunthus, L dēns, Gk odoús (Ionic odn), Skt dánta


toothlike, adjective


8. fondness, partiality, predilection.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To long in the tooth
long 1   (lông, lŏng)   
adj.   long·er, long·est
    1. Extending or traveling a relatively great distance.

    2. Having relatively great height; tall.

    3. Having the greater length of two or the greatest length of several: the long edge of the door.

    4. Extending beyond an average or standard: a long game.

    5. Extending or landing beyond a given boundary, limit, or goal: Her first serve was long.

    6. Linguistics Having a comparatively great duration. Used of a vowel or consonant.

    7. Grammar Of, relating to, or being the English speech sounds (ā, ē, ī, ō, ōō) that are tense vowels or diphthongs.

    8. Stressed or accented. Used of a syllable in accentual prosody.

    9. Being of relatively great duration. Used of a syllable in quantitative prosody.

  1. Of relatively great duration: a long time.

  2. Of a specified linear extent or duration: a mile long; an hour long.

  3. Made up of many members or items: a long shopping list.

    1. Extending beyond an average or standard: a long game.

    2. Extending or landing beyond a given boundary, limit, or goal: Her first serve was long.

    3. Linguistics Having a comparatively great duration. Used of a vowel or consonant.

    4. Grammar Of, relating to, or being the English speech sounds (ā, ē, ī, ō, ōō) that are tense vowels or diphthongs.

    5. Stressed or accented. Used of a syllable in accentual prosody.

    6. Being of relatively great duration. Used of a syllable in quantitative prosody.

  4. Tediously protracted; lengthy: a long speech.

  5. Concerned with distant issues; far-reaching: took a long view of the geopolitical issues.

  6. Involving substantial chance; risky: long odds.

  7. Having an abundance or excess of: "politicians whose résumés are long on competence" (Margaret Garrard Warner).

  8. Having a holding of a commodity or security in expectation of a rise in price: long on soybeans.

    1. Linguistics Having a comparatively great duration. Used of a vowel or consonant.

    2. Grammar Of, relating to, or being the English speech sounds (ā, ē, ī, ō, ōō) that are tense vowels or diphthongs.

    3. Stressed or accented. Used of a syllable in accentual prosody.

    4. Being of relatively great duration. Used of a syllable in quantitative prosody.

    1. Stressed or accented. Used of a syllable in accentual prosody.

    2. Being of relatively great duration. Used of a syllable in quantitative prosody.

adv.   longer, longest
  1. During or for an extended period of time: The promotion was long due.

  2. At or to a considerable distance; far: She walked long past the end of the trail.

  3. Beyond a given boundary, limit, or goal: hit the return long.

  4. For or throughout a specified period: They talked all night long.

  5. At a point of time distant from that referred to: That event took place long before we were born.

  6. Into or in a long position, as of a commodity market.

n.  
  1. A long time: This won't take long.

  2. Linguistics A long syllable, vowel, or consonant.

  3. One who acquires holdings in a security or commodity in expectation of a rise in price.

    1. A garment size for a tall person.

    2. longs Trousers extending to the feet or ankles.


[Middle English, from Old English lang; see del-1 in Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Cultural Dictionary

tooth

A hard structure, embedded in the jaws of the mouth, that functions in chewing. The tooth consists of a crown, covered with hard white enamel; a root, which anchors the tooth to the jawbone; and a “neck” between the crown and the root, covered by the gum. Most of the tooth is made up of dentin, which is located directly below the enamel. The soft interior of the tooth, the pulp, contains nerves and blood vessels. Humans have molars for grinding food, incisors for cutting, and canines and bicuspids for tearing.

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Word Origin & History

tooth 
O.E. toð (plural teð), from P.Gmc. *tanth, *tunth (cf. O.S., Dan., Swed., Du. tand, O.N. tönn, O.Fris. toth, O.H.G. zand, Ger. Zahn, Goth. tunþus), from PIE *dont-/*dent- "tooth" (cf. Skt. danta, Gk. odontos, L. dens, Lith. dantis, O.Ir. det, Welsh dent). Application to tooth-like parts of other objects (saws, combs, etc.) first recorded 1523. Toothache is attested from 1377. Toothbrush is first recorded 1651; toothpaste first attested 1832; toothpick is from 1488. Toothsome "pleasant to the taste" is c.1565; the fig. sense of "attractive" (1551) is a bit older.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: tooth
Pronunciation: 'tüth
Function: noun
Inflected Form: plural teeth /'tEth/
: any of the hard bonyappendages that are borne on the jaws and serve especially for the prehension and mastication of food —see MILK TOOTH,PERMANENT TOOTH
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

tooth (t&oomacr;th)
n. pl. teeth (tēth)
One of a set of hard, bonelike structures rooted in sockets in the jaws of vertebrates, typically composed of a core of soft pulp surrounded by a layer of hard dentin that is coated with cement or enamel at the crown and used chiefly for biting or chewing food or as a means of attack or defense.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Idioms & Phrases

long in the tooth

Getting on in years, old, as in Aunt Aggie's a little long in the tooth to be helping us move. This expression alludes to a horse's gums receding with age and making the teeth appear longer. [Mid-1800s]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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