King James Bible Dictionary

One of the particulars regarding which retaliatory punishment was to be inflicted (Exodus 21:24; Leviticus 24:20; Deuteronomy 19:21). "Gnashing of teeth" =rage, despair (Matthew 8:12; Acts 7:54); "cleanness of teeth" =famine (Amos 4:6); "children's teeth set on edge" =children suffering for the sins of their fathers (Ezekiel 18:2).

TOOTH, noun plural teeth. [Latin dens.]

1. A bony substance growing out of the jaws of animals, and serving as the instrument of mastication. The teeth are also very useful in assisting persons in the utterance of words, and when well formed and sound, they are ornamental. The teeth of animals differ in shape, being destined for different offices. The front teeth in men and quadrupeds are called incisors, or incisive or cutting teeth; next to these are the pointed teeth, called canine or dog teeth; and on the sides of the jaws are the molar teeth or grinders.

2. Taste; palate.

These are not dishes for thy dainty tooth

3. A tine; a prong; something pointed and resembling an animal tooth; as the tooth of a rake, a comb, a card, a harrow, a saw, or of a wheel. The teeth of a wheel are sometimes called cogs, and are destined to catch corresponding parts of other wheels.

TOOTH and nail, [by biting and scratching, ] with one's utmost power; by all possible means.

To the teeth, in open opposition; directly to one's face.

That I shall live, and tell him to his teeth.

To cast in the teeth, to retort reproachfully; to insult to the face.

In spite of the teeth, in defiance of opposition; in opposition to every effort.

To show the teeth, to threaten.

When the law shows her teeth, but dares not bite.

TOOTH, verb transitive To furnish with teeth; as, to tooth a rake.

1. To indent; to cut into teeth; to jag; as, to tooth a saw.

2. To lock into each other.

TOOTH'ACHE, noun [tooth and ache.] Pain in the teeth.

TOOTHACHE-TREE, noun A shrub of the genus Zanthoxylum.

TOOTH'-DRAWER, noun [tooth and draw.] One whose business is to extract teeth with instruments.

TOOTH'-DRAWING, noun The act of extracting a tooth; the practice of extracting teeth.

TOOTH'ED, participle passive or adjective Having teeth or jags. In botany, dentate; having projecting points, remote from each other, about the edge.

TOOTH'-EDGE, noun [tooth and edge.] The sensation excited by grating sounds, and by the touch of certain substances.

TOOTH'FUL, adjective Palatable. [Not in use.]

TOOTH'LESS, adjective Having no teeth.

TOOTH'LETTED, adjective In botany, denticulate; having very small teeth or notches; as a leaf.

TOOTH'PICKER, noun [tooth and pick.] An instrument for cleaning the teeth of substances lodged between them.

TOOTH'SOME, adjective Palatable; grateful to the taste.

TOOTH'SOMENESS, noun Pleasantness to the taste.

TOOTH'WORT, noun A plant whose roots resemble human teeth, such as the Lathroea squamaria, various species of Dentaria, the Ophrys corallorrhiza, etc. This name is also given to the lead-wort, of the genus Plumbago, form its toothed corol.

TOOTH'Y, adjective Toothed; having teeth.