fang

¹ American  

[fang] / fæŋ /

verb (used with object)

British Dialect.

1. to seize; grab.

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Fang ² 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 ³ 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 ¹ 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 ² 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 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 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 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

Example Sentences

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.

From The Wall Street Journal

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

From Los Angeles Times

It’s why she can unabashedly pose wearing fangs or Hello Kitty face paint on her Instagram grid.

From Los Angeles Times

She rocks the studio’s campy branded ensembles — some with blood splatter designs, others with fangs and skulls — as she demonstrates movements that bring to mind iconic scream scenes.

From Los Angeles Times

When he officially took the reins of “The Late Show” from David Letterman in September 2015, Colbert blunted his comedy fangs to adopt a less partisan approach for the broadcast audience.

From Salon

Related Words

• fingernail
• paw
• tentacle