tooth
noun · verb
Simple meaning
A hard, calcareous structure present in the mouth of many vertebrate animals, generally used for biting and chewing food.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
toothIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈtuθ
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
A hard, calcareous structure present in the mouth of many vertebrate animals, generally used for biting and chewing food.
A sharp projection on the blade of a saw or similar implement.
A projection on the edge of a gear that meshes with similar projections on adjacent gears, or on the circumference of a cog that engages with a chain.
Toothlike structure in invertebrates found in the mouth or alimentary canal or on a shell
zoology
A projection or point in other parts of the body resembling the tooth of a vertebrate animal.
One of a number of uniform projections on a gear
verb
To lock into each other, like gear wheels.
To provide or furnish with teeth.
To indent; to jag.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A hard, calcareous structure present in the mouth of many vertebrate animals, generally used for biting and chewing food.
Used this way, tooth is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use tooth
- “My young child lost their first baby tooth this morning.”
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.