Fang

¹

Also Fan

[fang, fahng, fahn]

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.

fang

²

[fang]

verb (used with object)

British Dialect.

1. to seize; grab.

fang

³

[fang]

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.

Fang

¹

/ 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

fang

²

/ 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

fang

³

/ fæŋ /

verb

1. to drive at great speed

noun

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

   we took the car for a fang

fang

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.

Other Word Forms

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of Fang¹

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

Origin of Fang²

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of Fang¹

Old English fang what is caught, prey; related to Old Norse fang a grip, German Fang booty

Origin of Fang²

C20: from Juan Manuel _Fangio

Example Sentences

It opens its mouth to reveal a spiked tongue and a few pointed fangs the size of backpacks.

Read more on Literature

But when she opened the pages, she saw only wolves: three of them, snarling and yellow eyed, with blood dripping from crescent-shaped fangs.

Read more on Literature

That this particular Ominous Landscape featured the terrifying figure of a wolf, yellow eyed and with fangs that dripped blood, was one more disturbing mystery to add to the pile.

Read more on Literature

Dek, a born intimidator with crisscrossing fangs, wishes she would shut up so he could carry on with the slaying, and falls asleep while she’s prattling on about her life.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Flip around a tarantula so it’s belly up and you’ll be met with sizable fangs.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• fingernail 
• paw 
• tentacle