fang

¹ American  

[fang] / fæŋ /

noun

1. one of the long, sharp, hollow or grooved teeth of a venomous snake by which poison is injected.

2. a canine tooth.

3. a tooth resembling a dog's.

4. the root of a tooth.

5. one of the chelicerae of a spider.

6. a pointed, tapering part of a thing.

7. Machinery. the tang of a tool.

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fang ² American  

[fang] / fæŋ /

verb (used with object)

British Dialect.

1. to seize; grab.

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Fang ³ American  

[fang, fahng, fahn] / fæŋ, fɑŋ, fɑ̃ /

Also Fan

noun

plural

Fangs,

plural

Fang

1. Also called Pahouin, Pangwe.  a member of an Indigenous people of Gabon, Cameroon, and adjacent areas.

2. the Bantu language spoken by this people.

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fang ¹ British  

/ fæŋ /

noun

1. the long pointed hollow or grooved tooth of a venomous snake through which venom is injected

2. any large pointed tooth, esp the canine or carnassial tooth of a carnivorous mammal

3. the root of a tooth

4. informal (usually plural) tooth

   clean your fangs

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fang ² British  

/ fæŋ /

verb

1. to drive at great speed

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noun

1. an act or instance of driving in such a way

   we took the car for a fang

Fang ³ British  

/ fæŋ, fɑːŋ /

noun

1. a member of a Negroid people of W Africa, living chiefly in the rain forests of Gabon and Rio Muni: noted for their use of iron and copper money and for their sculpture

2. the language of this people, belonging to the Bantu group of the Niger-Congo family

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fang Scientific  

/ făng /

1. A long, pointed tooth in vertebrate animals or a similar structure in spiders, used to seize prey and sometimes to inject venom. The fangs of a poisonous snake, for example, have a hollow groove through which venom flows.

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Other Word Forms

• fanged adjective
• fangless adjective
• fanglike adjective
• unfanged adjective

Etymology

Origin of fang¹

First recorded before 1050; Middle English “prey, purchase, spoils,” Old English: “booty”; cognate with German Fang “capture, booty,” Old Norse fang “a grasp, hold”; fang ²

Origin of fang²

First recorded before 900; Middle English fangen, fengen, earlier and Old English fon “to seize, catch”; cognate with Old Saxon fangan and fahan, German fangen and fahen, Old Icelandic fangan and fá

Example Sentences

I saw fangs and the pitiless gleam of an eye.

From Literature

His black lips were peeled back in a snarl, baring formidable white fangs.

From Literature

Here are 17 fun facts to sink your vampire fangs into ahead of the Academy Awards this Sunday.

From BBC

A slender red tongue flickered over the tiny fangs, reminding Jeremy of the lightning that had split the sky earlier that night.

From Literature

Devendra, who was a farmer in India, still remembers the moment a snake sank its fangs into his leg while he was picking mulberry leaves.

From BBC

Related Words

• fingernail
• paw
• tentacle