hound's tooth

¹ American  

noun

1. a pattern of broken or jagged checks, used on a variety of fabrics.

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hound's-tooth ² American  

[houndz-tooth] / ˈhaʊndzˌtuθ /

adjective

1. woven or printed with a pattern of broken or jagged checks.

   a hound's-tooth jacket.

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Etymology

Origin of hound's tooth¹

First recorded in 1935–40

Origin of hound's-tooth²

First recorded in 1955–60

Example Sentences

To earn it the investigators must appear every day to be clean as a hound’s tooth.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 15, 2017

Ike was at first undecided about whether or not to drop his running mate and told reporters that anyone on his ticket would have to prove himself "clean as a hound's tooth."

From Time Magazine Archive

Said one retail store manager: "Our stocks are as clean as a hound's tooth."

From Time Magazine Archive

A "sense of Congress" resolution with no legal force, the code urges officials to be loyal, hardworking, fair, clean as a hound's tooth.

From Time Magazine Archive

"My precinct is as clean as a hound's tooth," said the captain.

From Whirligigs by Henry, O.