Tooth

One of the particulars regarding which retaliatory punishment was to be inflicted (Ex. 21:24; Lev. 24:20; Deut. 19:21). “Gnashing of teeth” =rage, despair (Matt. 8:12; Acts 7:54); “cleanness of teeth” =famine (Amos 4:6); “children’s teeth set on edge” =children suffering for the sins of their fathers (Ezek. 18:2).

TOOTH. The law of retaliation allowed the Jewish magistrate to give to one who had been deprived of a tooth or an eye the tooth or eye of the aggressor in revenge. Ex 21:24. The Jews construed this law to justify private revenge, and this construction and the whole principle of the law were condemned by our Saviour, and the law of forbearance and forgiveness commended. Matt 5:39. Cleanness of teeth is a figurative expression for famine. Am 4:6. Gnashing the teeth indicates terror, rage, and despair. Matt 8:12. The phrase in Eze 18:2 denotes that the children suffer for the sins of their fathers.

TOOTH. The law of retaliation allowed the Jewish magistrate to give to one who had been deprived of a tooth or an eye the tooth or eye of the aggressor in revenge. Ex 21:24. The Jews construed this law to justify private revenge, and this construction and the whole principle of the law were condemned by our Saviour, and the law of forbearance and forgiveness commended. Matt 5:39. Cleanness of teeth is a figurative expression for famine. Am 4:6. Gnashing the teeth indicates terror, rage, and despair. Matt 8:12. The phrase in Eze 18:2 denotes that the children suffer for the sins of their fathers.

Part of speech: noun (n.)

1. 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.

2. Fig.: Taste; palate. These are not dishes for thy dainty tooth. Dryden.

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.

4. A projecting member resembling a tenon, but fitting into a mortise that is only sunk, not pierced through.

5. One of several steps, or offsets, in a tusk. See Tusk.

6. 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.),

7. one of the appendages at the mouth of the capsule of a moss. See Peristome.

8. 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. 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 (Zoöl.), 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 paste, a paste for cleaning the teeth; a dentifrice. -- 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.

Part of speech: verb (v.)

1. To furnish with teeth. The twin cards toothed with glittering wire. Wordsworth.

2. To indent; to jag; as, to tooth a saw.

3. To lock into each other. See Tooth, n., 4. Moxon.