incisor

[in-sahy-zer]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR incisor ON THESAURUS.COM

noun Dentistry.

any of the four anterior teeth in each jaw, used for cutting and gnawing.

Origin of incisor

1665–75; < New Latin: literally, cutter, equivalent to Latin incīd(ere) to incise + -tor -tor, with -dt- > -s-

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

Related Words for incisor

ivory, snag, tush, tusk, molar, premolar, fang, cuspid, bicuspid, incisor, eyetooth, point, canine, tine, dent, grinder, serration, denticle, tooth, carnassial

Examples from the Web for incisor

Contemporary Examples of incisor

He had only one tooth, and he ate by using his thumb as a second incisor.
The Stacks: The Judas Priest Teen Suicide Trial
Ivan Solotaroff
June 28, 2014
One source told Orth that Cruise brought in his hairstylist for Boniadi and wanted her incisor teeth filed down.
Juiciest Bits From Vanity Fair’s Tom Cruise Exposé
September 5, 2012

Historical Examples of incisor

A molar, a bicuspid, a canine, and an incisor were laid in succession on the table.
Oh, You Tex!
William Macleod Raine
The tools used are made of the incisor teeth of the paca and cavy.
The Western World
W.H.G. Kingston
Its tusks are not large, and are shaped like the incisor teeth.
Quadrupeds, What They Are and Where Found
Mayne Reid
In some cases the incisor teeth are drawn, to prevent them from biting.
Birds and all Nature, Vol. IV, No. 1, July 1898
Various
The incisor teeth, in old age, have their characteristic signs.
The Horse's Mouth
Edward Mayhew

British Dictionary definitions for incisor

incisor

noun

a chisel-edged tooth at the front of the mouth. In man there are four in each jaw

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 incisor

"cutting tooth," 1670s, from Medieval Latin incisor "a cutting tooth," literally "that which cuts into," from Latin incisus, past participle of incidere (see incision). Inscisours as the name of a cutting tool is attested from early 15c.

incisor in Medicine

incisor

[ĭn-sī′zər]

n.

Any of the four teeth adapted for cutting or gnawing, having a chisel-shaped crown and a single conical root and located in the front part of both jaws in both deciduous and permanent dentitions.

incisor in Science

incisor

[ĭn-sī′zər]

A sharp-edged tooth in mammals that is adapted for cutting or gnawing. The incisors are located in the front of the mouth between the canine teeth.