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📕 rednote ID(小红书号)：3881567312

Tooth: Meaning, Examples, and Common Collocations (2 meaning)

Meaning 1：hard white part (tooth)

tooth 🔊

/tuːθ/

A hard, white part in your mouth used for biting and chewing food.

Close-up of a child's smile showing clean white teeth

hard white part 🔊

➕

/hɑːrd waɪt pɑːrt/

A hard, calcified structure in the jaws used for biting and chewing food.

📁 Category：Diet & Health 🔖 Level：Beginner

📘 Details & Usage

📖 Root Explanation

From Old English tōþ, cognate with Latin dens, Greek odous; PIE *dent-.

💡 Mnemonic

Picture your two front teeth as the number 'two' with 'ooth' — 'two-ooth' becomes 'tooth'.

📖 Example

After eating the apple, she noticed a small piece was stuck between her teeth. 🔊 After eating the apple, she noticed a small piece was stuck between her teeth.

🔗 Collocations

tooth decay – The process of dental cavities forming due to bacteria.

toothbrush – A tool with bristles used for cleaning teeth.

tooth fairy – A mythical figure who exchanges a coin for a child's lost tooth.

🔄 Synonyms

fang (n.) – A long, sharp tooth of an animal, especially a canine.

molar (n.) – A broad, flat tooth in the back of the mouth used for grinding.

incisor (n.) – A narrow, sharp tooth at the front used for cutting.

🌱 Derivatives

toothless (adj.) – Lacking teeth.

toothed (adj.) – Having teeth.

toothy (adj.) – Showing many teeth, often in a smile.

📖 Cultural Story

Tooth derives from Proto-Germanic *tanþs, with cognates in Latin dens and Greek odous. The concept appears in idioms like 'fight tooth and nail' from the 16th century.

Meaning 2：saw blade point (tooth)

tooth 🔊

/tuːθ/

A pointed part on the edge of a tool or machine, like on a saw or comb, used for cutting or gripping.

Metal saw blade with sharp pointed teeth on a workbench

saw blade point 🔊

➕

/sɔː bleɪd pɔɪnt/

A projecting point on the edge of a cutting tool or machine part, designed for cutting, gripping, or engaging.

📁 Category：Objects & Materials 🔖 Level：Intermediate

📘 Details & Usage

📖 Example

He carefully filed the teeth of the saw to make it cut through the wood more smoothly. 🔊 He carefully filed the teeth of the saw to make it cut through the wood more smoothly.

🔗 Collocations

saw tooth – The individual pointed projection on a saw blade.

gear tooth – A projection on a gear wheel that engages with another gear.

comb tooth – One of the slender prongs of a comb.

🔄 Synonyms

prong (n.) – A thin, pointed part of a tool or object, such as a fork.

spike (n.) – A thin, pointed piece of metal or wood.

tine (n.) – A prong of a fork or comb.

🚫 Antonyms

smooth edge (n.) – An edge without projections.

🌱 Derivatives

toothed (adj.) – Having pointed projections.

toothing (n.) – The process of creating teeth on a tool.

toothlike (adj.) – Resembling a tooth in shape.