teeth

teeth — noun

1. the hard white objects in the mouth that are used for biting and chewing food; t

1.nounA1
Definition

the hard white objects in the mouth that are used for biting and chewing food; the plural form of 'tooth'.

Example

Zuri brushed her teeth carefully after breakfast every morning.

brushed [possessive] teeth — standard dental-hygiene collocation

Gabriel's teeth are straight and white because he wore braces for two years.

possessive + teeth + adjective — describing dental condition

Common collocations
  • brush teeth
  • clean teeth
  • clench teeth
  • bare teeth
  • front teeth
  • back teeth
  • baby teeth
  • wisdom teeth
  • sink teeth into
  • false teeth

Usage Note

Teeth is the irregular plural of tooth. It always takes a plural verb (e.g., 'Her teeth are white', not 'Her teeth is white').

Common Mistakes

Be sure to brush your tooths.
Be sure to brush your teeth.
'teeth' is the correct irregular plural, not 'tooths'.
A teeth fell out.
A tooth fell out.
'teeth' is plural; use 'tooth' for a single one.
Idioms

cut one's teeth on something

idiom

to gain your first experience of something, especially at a young age or in a particular place or role

Nicholas cut his teeth on coding when he was twelve, writing simple video games.

fed up to the back teeth

idiom

extremely annoyed or bored with something because it has continued for too long

Sirin was fed up to the back teeth with her noisy neighbours playing loud music every night.

get one's teeth into something

idiom

to start to deal with something in a determined and energetic way, especially a project or task that requires effort

Esteban was eager to get his teeth into the new research project at the lab.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Tooth is the singular form of teeth: one tooth vs. several teeth. Dentition is a formal, technical term used mainly in dentistry and zoology to describe the type, number, and arrangement of teeth in a person or animal — you would not say 'brush your dentition' in everyday conversation. Fangs refers specifically to the long, sharp teeth of animals such as snakes, wolves, and vampires; it is never used for human teeth unless in a scary or joking context. In daily life, learners only need to master the irregular plural teeth and the singular tooth.

tooth ↗dentitionfangs

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

Etymology

Proto-Indo-EuropeanProto-GermanicOld EnglishMiddle EnglishEnglish

Teeth comes from Old English tēþ, the plural of tōþ ('tooth'). It is related to German Zähne and Dutch tanden. All trace back to the Proto-Indo-European root *h₃dónts, meaning 'tooth', which also gave rise to Latin dēns (source of English 'dentist' and 'dental'), Greek odṓn ('tooth', as in 'orthodontist'), and Sanskrit dán. The irregular vowel change from 'oo' to 'ee' in the plural is an old Germanic pattern called i-mutation, seen also in foot→feet and goose→geese.