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• fang
  fang

  noun

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

  noun

  a member of an Indigenous people of Gabon, Cameroon, and adjacent areas.

fang

¹ American  

[fang] / fæŋ /

noun

• fangs
  plural

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

• Fangs,
  plural
• Fang
  plural

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

Derived Forms

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

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• Fang
  plural
• Fangs
  plural
• fangs
  plural

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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”; see also 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

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Explanation

A fang is a long, sharp tooth that is used to do harm. Vampires have them, venomous snakes have them... you could have them, too, if your Halloween costume includes a set of pointy teeth. The word fang came into English from the Old Norse word fang, meaning “capture, grasp.” It was originally used to describe something that was seized or captured, like loot taken after a battle. Later it meant "something that traps or snares." When you think of a sharp tooth’s ability to snare something, it’s not such a leap to the word’s current meaning: the long, pointy teeth of a predatory animal or a snake — or a vampire.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

fang Fang Fangs fangs

One of its writers, James Jeremias, was loosely inspired by “Interview,” which may be why Kiefer Sutherland’s rebellious vampire, David, feels spiritually closer to Lestat than the sparkly fang boys of “The Twilight Saga.”

From Salon ● Jun. 13, 2026

Once the swelling subsided, the spider's fang marks could be seen as well as the toxin making his way through his foot.

From BBC ● Nov. 27, 2023

Those are definitely not the hybrids, despite “the fur and fang and fury” that Moreno-Garcia unleashes as justice claws its way through the book’s final pages.

From Washington Post ● Jul. 28, 2022

They also took screenshots of products offered for sale on Facebook, from elephant ivory bracelets and rings trimmed in 14-karat gold to intricate happy buddha ivory carvings, whole rhino horns, and tiger fang pendants.

From National Geographic ● Dec. 18, 2020

On recognising him, the fang of the snake Jealousy was instantly broken; because at the same moment my love for Céline sank under an extinguisher.

From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë

One example was the case of Chinese physicist Fang Lizhi, who took refuge in the U.S.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 22, 2026

After evacuating as many citizens as he could, the KMT’s 10th-army commander, Gen. Fang Xianjue, ordered the construction of massive defense works, blew a major bridge over the Xiang and prepared to make his stand.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026

Fang also helped set financial policy while working as a securities regulator.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026

SGF Fang Holdings, an investment vehicle for billionaire Lyndal Stephens Greth, sold more than 9 million Diamondback Energy shares.

From Barron's

Either way, thoughts of Faith and Fang and Astelle and how I’d just been slain outside by a single note seemed distant, muted by the church’s shadowy stillness and the Pastor’s lingering calm.

From "Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet" by Joanne Proulx

Though Quickies is mainly fiction – one song is called I Wish I Had Fangs and a Tail – Merritt’s life has still informed it.

From The Guardian ● May 26, 2020

“This is why I’m here. Fangs help them tap into their primal vampire nature. Fangs are magic.”

From New York Times ● Oct. 26, 2018

North Carolina's Bat Fangs even had a theme song — "Fangs Out," which, said leader and guitar ace Betsy Wright, is "silly, just go with it."

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 18, 2018

Fangs and skulls seized in Bolivia, as well as 38 fangs confiscated in Lima, Peru, in 2015, could have come from jaguars that were killed recently, or years ago.

From Nature ● Feb. 22, 2018

“The only department that keeps beasts is the Department of Creature Control. Fangs and claws? It must be the predators section, right?”

From "Amari and the Night Brothers" by B.B. Alston

The sighting of the extremely venomous viper, which has the longest fangs of any snake in the world, spurred the Santa Ana Police Department to issue a public advisory accompanied by exclamation points.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 29, 2026

Whether associated with the deadly reputation of the Black Widow or the fictional bite that transformed Spider-Man, fangs have become one of the most recognizable features of spiders.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 4, 2026

But Michael is a standard-issue good kid seduced by the lure of the more glamorous bad kids—one of “The Outsiders,” but with fangs.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 28, 2026

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 ● Feb. 1, 2026

I crack a Dorito into fangs and jam them under my upper lip.

From "Wayward Creatures" by Dayna Lorentz

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