one of the long, sharp, hollow or grooved teeth of a venomous snake by which poison is injected.
a canine tooth.
a tooth resembling a dog's.
the root of a tooth.
one of the chelicerae of a spider.
a pointed, tapering part of a thing.
Machinery. the tang of a tool.
Also called Pahouin, Pangwe. a member of an Indigenous people of Gabon, Cameroon, and adjacent areas.
the Bantu language spoken by this people.
the long pointed hollow or grooved tooth of a venomous snake through which venom is injected
any large pointed tooth, esp the canine or carnassial tooth of a carnivorous mammal
the root of a tooth
informal (usually plural) tooth
clean your fangs
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
the language of this people, belonging to the Bantu group of the Niger-Congo family
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
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
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.
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Officials attempted to block Fang multiple times on his way to the banquet.
From Barron's • May 15, 2026
But so long as Fang remained in Beijing, Nixon argued, he would be an impediment to Chinese objectives.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 11, 2026
At the time of the launch, DoorDash co-founder Andy Fang said “our focus is on building AI tools that give people time back and make local shopping easier.”
From MarketWatch • Apr. 25, 2026
In an interview with The Times in November, he said he was cleared by the FBI and a GOP-led House Ethics Committee of any impropriety in his ties to Fang.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 7, 2026
I hadn’t really spoken to Fang and the boys since that last time at Delaney’s.
From "Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet" by Joanne Proulx
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
