set one's teeth on edge

Cultural  

1. Something that one finds intensely irritating may be said to “set one's teeth on edge”: “The mayor's sexist remark set my teeth on edge.”

---

set one's teeth on edge Idioms  

1. Irritate, annoy, make one cringe, as in That raucous laugh sets my teeth on edge. This expression alludes to the shuddering feeling evoked by a grating noise or similar irritation. It appears in several books of the Bible and was also used by Shakespeare. [c. 1600]

---

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

set one's teeth on edge

It was a noise that set one’s teeth on edge and bristled the hair at the back of one’s neck.

From "1984" by George Orwell

There were showers of sparks and a ringing from the sledge-hammers in the large smithy, and sharp blows of hammers, while the files shrieked and whistled and set one's teeth on edge.

From One of Life's Slaves by Muir, Jessie

Half a dozen musicians at the further end were making unearthly discords: shrieking and wailing instruments set one's teeth on edge and went down one's back like cold water.

From Glories of Spain by Wood, Charles W. (William)

A red hat on a purple chair would set one's teeth on edge, in model or picture.

From The Psychology of Beauty by Howes, Ethel Dench Puffer

The machine-like gestures of the little preachers with arms too short for the work, were answered by words learned by rote, so false as to set one's teeth on edge.

From The Nabob, Volume 1 by Ives, George Burnham