teeth

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.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈtiːθ/
  • (th-fronting) IPA^(key): /ˈtiːf/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈtiθ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːθ

teeth

1. plural of tooth

   Synonyms: chompers, Hampstead Heath, pearly whites, (diminutive) teefies

teeth pl (plural only)

1. (informal) The ability to be enforced, or to be enforced to any useful effect.

   Synonym: enforceability

   The international community's sanctions against the regime had some teeth to them this time around.

teeth (third-person singular simple present teeths, present participle teething, simple past and past participle teethed)

1. Dated spelling of teethe (“to grow teeth”).
   • 1943, Herman Niels Bundesen, Our Babies, page 81:

     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.

• toothless