fang2
[fang]
- to seize; grab.
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Origin of fang2
before 900; Middle English fangen to seize, catch; cognate with Old Saxon fangan, German fangen, variant of proto-Germanic *fanhan-, whence Old English fōn, cognate with Old Saxon, Old High German, Gothic fāhan, Old Norse fā; akin to Old English gefangian to fasten
fang1
[fang]
- 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.
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Origin of fang1
before 1050; Middle English, Old English: something caught; cognate with German Fang capture, booty, Old Norse fang a grasp, hold. See fang2
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for fanged
Contemporary Examples
So I never allow myself to take anything for granted (or the fanged writing gods will descend on me).
We swipe a fanged cupcake and fight one last battle, to get out of the party.
Historical Examples
As he spoke, a thousand fanged thoughts stung me to the heart.
After the cat went a jaguar, black, fanged, also with yellow eyes.
Sinister ParadiseRobert Moore Williams
Then, even if they did not fall to some fanged or taloned prowler, they'd starve.
Swamp CatJames Arthur Kjelgaard
He was loved by every man, woman and child, and feared only by the fanged wolves and hyenas that threatened to ravage the flock.
Labor and FreedomEugene V. Debs
And the fanged face of the drock turned into the square, battered face of Jarvis Spurling.
Star PerformerRobert J. Shea
fang1
- 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
- (usually plural) British informal toothclean your fangs
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Word Origin
Old English fang what is caught, prey; related to Old Norse fang a grip, German Fang booty
fang2
- to drive at great speed
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- an act or instance of driving in such a waywe took the car for a fang
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Word Origin
C20: from Juan Manuel Fangio
Fang
- plural Fangs or Fang 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
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for fanged
fang
n.
Old English fang "prey, spoils, plunder, booty; a seizing or taking," from gefangen, past participle of fon "seize, take, capture," from Proto-Germanic *fango- (cf. Old Frisian fangia, Middle Dutch and Dutch vangen, Old Norse fanga, German fangen, Gothic fahan), from PIE root *pag- "to make firm, fix;" connected to Latin pax (genitive pacis) "peace" (see pact).
The sense of "canine tooth" (1550s) probably developed from Old English fengtoð, literally "catching- or grasping-tooth." Transferred to the venom tooth of a serpent, etc., by 1800.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
fang
[făng]
- 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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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.