denture
Americannoun
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an artificial replacement of one or several of the teeth partial denture, or all of the teeth full denture of either or both jaws; dental prosthesis.
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a set of teeth.
noun
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Also called: dental plate. false teeth. a partial or full set of artificial teeth
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rare a set of natural teeth
Etymology
Origin of denture
1870–75; < French, equivalent to dent tooth ( see dent 2) + -ure -ure
Explanation
A denture is a section of false teeth, made to replace missing teeth in a person's mouth. Some kinds of dentures need to be soaked in a cleansing solution overnight. The denture part of a dental appliance is officially the plate to which false teeth are attached, but people tend to refer more generally to dentures, meaning the whole device. If an accident or dental disease causes you to lose adult teeth, you can have a dentist make dentures that are fitted exactly to your mouth. Some of these are permanent, while others are removable. Denture comes from the Latin root dens, "tooth."
Vocabulary lists containing denture
Smile
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Body Language: Dent, Dont ("Tooth")
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English Words Derived from French, List 10
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Liechtenstein is not much larger than the denture sets it exports with such abandon to a gap-gummed world.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 7, 2026
It also notes that garlic extract has been explored in areas such as denture stomatitis, dentinal tubule disinfection, and intracanal medication.
From Science Daily ● Dec. 8, 2025
They needed extracting by a dental surgeon, followed by several weeks of healing and then denture fitting, he was told.
From BBC ● Jan. 29, 2024
On his Instagram page, Connelly shared photos of Ye’s new denture design.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 18, 2024
“I was going to mix up something special to repay her for the denture rinse but I’ll give you some history instead.”
From "Gone Crazy in Alabama" by Rita Williams-Garcia
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
