Tooth \Tooth\ (t[=oo]th), n.; pl. Teeth (t[=e]th). [OE.
  
         toth,tooth, AS. t[=o][eth]; akin to OFries. t[=o]th, OS. &
         D.
   tand, OHG. zang, zan, G. zahn, Icel. t["o]nn, Sw. &
         Dan.
   tand, Goth. tumpus, Lith. dantis, W. dant, L. dens,
         dentis,
   Gr. 'odoy`s, 'odo`ntos, Skr. danta; probably
         originally the
   p. pr. of the verb to eat. [root]239. Cf.
         Eat, Dandelion,
   Dent
         the tooth of a wheel,
         Dental, Dentist,
         Indent,
   Tine of a
         fork, Tusk.
         ]
   1. (Anat.) One of the hard, bony appendages which are
         borne
      on the jaws, or on other bones in the walls of
         the mouth
      or pharynx of most vertebrates, and which
         usually aid in
      the prehension and mastication of
         food.
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   Note: The hard parts of
         teeth are principally made up of
         dentine, or ivory, and a very hard substance called
         enamel. These are variously combined in different
         animals. Each tooth consist of three parts, a crown, or
         body, projecting above the gum, one or more fangs
         imbedded in the jaw, and the neck, or intermediate
         part. In some animals one or more of the teeth are
         modified into tusks which project from the mouth, as in
         both sexes of the elephant and of the walrus, and in
         the male narwhal.
         In adult man there are thirty-two teeth, composed
         largely of dentine, but the crowns are covered with
         enamel, and the fangs with a layer of bone called
         cementum. Of the eight teeth on each half of each jaw,
         the two in front are incisors, then come one canine,
         cuspid, or dog tooth, two bicuspids, or false molars,
         and three molars, or grinding teeth. The milk, or
         temporary, teeth are only twenty in number, there being
         two incisors, one canine, and two molars on each half
         of each jaw. The last molars, or wisdom teeth, usually
         appear long after the others, and occasionally do not
         appear above the jaw at all.
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               How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is
               To have a thankless child!         --Shak.
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   2. Fig.: Taste; palate.
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         Webster]

            These are not dishes for thy dainty tooth. --Dryden.
   
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   3. Any projection corresponding to
         the tooth of an animal, in
      shape, position, or
         office; as, the teeth, or cogs, of a
      cogwheel; a
         tooth, prong, or tine, of a fork; a tooth, or
      the
         teeth, of a rake, a saw, a file, a card.
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         Webster]

   4.
      (a) A projecting member resembling
         a tenon, but fitting
          into a mortise that is only sunk, not pierced through.
   
           (b) One of several steps, or offsets, in a tusk. See
          Tusk.
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   5. (Nat. Hist.) An angular or
         prominence on any edge; as, a
      tooth on the scale of a
         fish, or on a leaf of a plant;
      specifically (Bot.),
         one of the appendages at the mouth of
      the capsule of
         a moss. See Peristome.
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         Webster]

   6.
         (Zool.) Any hard calcareous or chitinous organ found in
   
           the mouth of various invertebrates and used in feeding
         or
      procuring food; as, the teeth of a mollusk or a
         starfish.
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   {In spite of the
         teeth}, in defiance of opposition; in
      opposition to
         every effort.

   In
         the teeth, directly; in direct
         opposition; in front.
      "Nor strive with all the
         tempest in my teeth." --Pope.

   To cast in the
         teeth,
         to report reproachfully; to taunt or
      insult one
         with.

   Tooth and
         nail, as if by biting and
         scratching; with one's
      utmost power; by all possible
         means. --L'Estrange. "I
      shall fight tooth and nail
         for international copyright."
      --Charles Reade.

  
         Tooth coralline
         (Zool.), any sertularian hydroid.

  
         Tooth edge, the
         sensation excited in the teeth by
         grating
      sounds, and by the touch of certain
         substances, as keen
      acids.

   Tooth key, an
         instrument used to extract teeth by a motion
     
         resembling that of turning a key.

   Tooth net, a large
         fishing net anchored. [Scot.]
      --Jamieson.

  
         Tooth ornament.
         (Arch.) Same as Dogtooth, n., 2.

  
         Tooth powder, a
         powder for cleaning the teeth; a
     
         dentifrice.

   Tooth
         rash. (Med.) See Red-gum, 1.


           To show the
         teeth, to threaten. "When the Law shows
         her
      teeth, but dares not bite." --Young.

   {To
         the teeth}, in open opposition; directly to one's face.
   
           "That I shall live, and tell him to his teeth ." --Shak.

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