fang

[fang]

verb (used with object) British Dialect.

to seize; grab.

Origin of fang

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

fang

[fang]

noun

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.

Origin of fang

before 1050; Middle English, Old English: something caught; cognate with German Fang capture, booty, Old Norse fang a grasp, hold. See fang²

Related formsfanged

[fangd] /fæŋd/, adjectivefang·less, adjectivefang·like, adjectiveun·fanged, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for fanged

Contemporary Examples of fanged

So I never allow myself to take anything for granted (or the fanged writing gods will descend on me).
Benjamin Percy: How I Write
Noah Charney
June 5, 2013
We swipe a fanged cupcake and fight one last battle, to get out of the party.
New Moon Rises Over Hollywood
Kim Masters
November 17, 2009

Historical Examples of fanged

As he spoke, a thousand fanged thoughts stung me to the heart.
The International Monthly, Volume 3, No. 1, April, 1851
Various
After the cat went a jaguar, black, fanged, also with yellow eyes.
Sinister Paradise
Robert Moore Williams
Then, even if they did not fall to some fanged or taloned prowler, they'd starve.
Swamp Cat
James 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 Freedom
Eugene V. Debs
And the fanged face of the drock turned into the square, battered face of Jarvis Spurling.
Star Performer
Robert J. Shea

British Dictionary definitions for fanged

fang

noun

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

Derived Formsfanged, adjectivefangless, adjectivefanglike, adjective

Word Origin for fang

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

fang

verb (intr)

to drive at great speed

noun

an act or instance of driving in such a waywe took the car for a fang

Word Origin for fang

C20: from Juan Manuel Fangio

Fang

noun

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

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

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.

fanged in Science

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.