teethe
Americanverb (used without object)
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teethes,
present (3rd person singular)
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teethed,
past participle, past
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teething
present participle
verb
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
teethesimple
-
teethessimple
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have teethedperfect
-
has teethedperfect
-
am teethingprogressive
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are teethingprogressive
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is teethingprogressive
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have been teethingperfect progressive
-
has been teethingperfect progressive
Past
-
teethedsimple
-
had teethedperfect
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was teethingprogressive
-
were teethingprogressive
-
had been teethingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of teethe
1375–1425; late Middle English tethen, derivative of teth teeth
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.
See Examples For:
It began when her family moved from Pakistan to the United States when Chaudry was just an infant; her mother filled her bottles with half-and-half and allowed her to teethe on sticks of butter.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 28, 2022
This is a question that political philosophers teethe over constantly: “Are the citizens of a state liable for what it does in their name?”
From Washington Post ● Apr. 21, 2022
After all, Jones says, gums don’t bleed when kids teethe.
From Slate ● May 4, 2015
Children who teethe well on The Mock Turtle's Story and Advice from a Caterpillar may be treated to Riverside's full-length Alice.
From Time Magazine Archive
They wanted to know how the little thing was getting along, whether its milk agreed with it, whether it had begun to teethe, whether it would speak German or some foreign tongue, and so on.
From The Goose Man by Allen Wilson Porterfield
This is a complaint allied to chicken-pox in children, and by no means dangerous—in fact, a puppy which teethes with such a rash has generally the making of a strong and healthy dog.
From A Manual of Toy Dogs How to breed, rear, and feed them by Mrs. Leslie Williams
Dey better send out to dat ole mule and git you some teethes.
From De Turkey and De Law A Comedy in Three Acts by Zora Neale Hurston
He teethed on a toy bat as an infant and grew up hoping to become the ’ right fielder, joking that Al Kaline beat him to it.
From New York Times ● Aug. 7, 2010
But he might have given his story the bite of reality if he had teethed on anything but slick paper.
From Time Magazine Archive
"I've spent nights pacing my floor at 2, 3 in the morning, wondering, How am I going to get through this?" says McFarland, who teethed on leather as a baby.
From Time Magazine Archive
He has pushed the bedtime stories of yesteryear, the myths that all former races of men teethed on, off the nursery shelf, or amalgamated them into a kind of mechanized folklore.
From Time Magazine Archive
She teethed on Miss Patty Cake’s arms and legs, ate her hair when she didn’t know better, squeezed her, slept with her, fed her, and sang to her.
From "One Crazy Summer" by Rita Williams-Garcia
But Kenya’s effort to modernize the system is encountering teething problems.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 5, 2026
Wizz Air's Moynihan acknowledged improvements had been made after initial teething issues and glitches.
From BBC ● May 29, 2026
Early ransomware attempts were not without teething troubles.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 6, 2026
The show's producer, Oliver Royds, told the BBC there are "always teething issues with shows of this magnitude" and the team "were slightly disappointed we didn't get it right from the very get-go".
From BBC ● Nov. 13, 2025
“It’ll make her feel better. A spoonful every couple of hours. How’s her teeth? She started teething yet?”
From "The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage" by Philip Pullman
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.
