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REFERENCE

tooth

n. · v.
US //ˈtuθ// UK //tˈuːθ// tooth
  1. 1 on a tool or gear (n.)
    B2 Upper Intermediate

    a sharp, pointed part on the edge of a tool like a saw, or on a wheel in a machine.

    a sharp projection on the blade of a saw or the edge of a gear wheel designed to engage with another part.

    Example

    The saw was old and had a broken tooth, so it didn't cut straight.

    Example

    The technician noticed that a single chipped tooth on the primary drive gear was causing the entire assembly to vibrate.
  2. 2 surface texture (n.)
    C1 Advanced Technical

    the rough feeling of paper or film that helps paint or ink stick to it.

    the surface grain or roughness of a substrate, such as paper or canvas, which allows media to adhere effectively.

    Example

    This paper has a nice tooth that holds the charcoal very well.

    Example

    The artist preferred a heavy-weight paper with significant tooth to ensure the pastel layers would not slide off the surface.
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  1. 3 to provide with teeth (v.)
    C2 Proficiency Formal Technical

    to cut or shape the edge of something so it has points like a saw.

    to furnish an object with teeth or to indent a surface so that it resembles a jagged edge.

    Example

    The machine is designed to tooth the metal strips automatically.

    Example

    The craftsman used a specialized file to tooth the edge of the blade before the final sharpening process.
Origin

From Middle English tothe, toth, tooth, from Old English tōþ (“tooth”), from Proto-West Germanic tanþ (“tooth”), from Proto-Germanic tanþs (“tooth”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃dónts (“tooth”). Related to tusk. Doublet of dent, dens, tind, and tine. Cognates Cognate with Scots tuith (“tooth”), North Frisian Ter, teän, tosch, toske, tuis, tus, tusch, täis (“tooth”), Saterland Frisian Tusk (“tooth”), West Frisian tosk (“tooth”), Bavarian Zåhn (“tooth”), Dutch tand (“tooth”), German Zahn (“tooth”), Limburgish tandj (“tooth”), Luxembourgish Zant (“tooth”), Vilamovian cōn (“tooth”), Yiddish צאָן (tson, “tooth”), Danish and Swedish tand (“tooth”), Faroese tonn (“tooth”), Icelandic tönn (“tooth”), Norn tann, tant (“tooth”), Norwegian Bokmål tann (“tooth”), Norwegian Nynorsk tann, tonn (“tooth”), Breton and Welsh dant (“tooth”), Cornish dans (“tooth”), Irish déad (“tooth”), Scottish Gaelic deud (“tooth”), Asturian, Leonese, Mirandese, and Spanish diente (“tooth”), Aragonese dien (“tooth”), Catalan and French dent (“tooth”), Galician, Italian, and Portuguese dente (“tooth”), Romanian dinte (“tooth”), Latin dēns (“tooth”), Ancient Greek ὀδούς (odoús), ὀδών (odṓn, “tooth”), Lithuanian dantis (“tooth”), Belarusian дзясна́ (dzjasná, “gum”), Bulgarian and Russian десна (desna, “gum”), Czech dáseň (“gum”), Polish dziąsło (“gum”), Serbo-Croatian dȇsni (“gum”), Slovak ďasno (“gum”), Slovene dlesni (“gum”), Ukrainian я́сна (jásna, “gum”), Armenian ատամ (atam, “tooth”), Ossetian дӕндаг (dændag, “tooth”), Baluchi دنتان (dantán), دتھاں (datʰāⁿ, “tooth”), Central Kurdish ددان (ddan, “tooth”), Northern Kurdish didan, diran (“tooth”), Persian دندان (dandân, “tooth”), Sanskrit दत् (dat), दन्त (danta, “tooth”).

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