teeth
- 01 A1 Beginner
the hard, white objects in your mouth that you use for biting and chewing food.
the plural form of tooth; the hard, calcified structures found in the jaws of many vertebrates used for breakdown of food.
Simple“You should brush your teeth at least twice a day to keep them healthy.”
In context“The dentist noted that the patient's teeth showed signs of significant wear, likely caused by grinding them during sleep.”
UsageIrregular plural of 'tooth'.
PitfallI need to brush my tooths. I need to brush my teeth.Teeth is an irregular plural; do not add 's' to the end.
- 02 C1 Advanced
the power or ability to make sure a law or rule is followed.
the capacity for effective enforcement or the power to produce a desired effect, typically regarding legislation or contracts.
Simple“The new environmental law has no teeth because there are no fines for breaking it.”
In context“Critics argued that the regulatory body lacked the teeth necessary to penalise multinational corporations for tax avoidance.”
UsageUsually used with the verb 'give' or 'have'.
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.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.