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teethe

American  
[teeth] / tið /

verb (used without object)

  • teethes,
    present (3rd person singular)
  • teethed,
    past participle,  past
  • teething
    present participle
  1. to grow teeth; cut one's teeth.


teethe British  
/ tiːð /

verb

  1. (intr) to cut one's baby (deciduous) teeth

"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

Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

Conjugated Forms

Present

Past

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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

Gandhi, whose mother's policies had done much to whelp and teethe the Tigers, earned their enmity in 1987 when he co-authored a peace plan for their offshore island republic.

From Time Magazine Archive

Some folkses hung de left hind foot of a mole on a string 'round deir babies necks to make 'em teethe easier.

From Slave Narratives: a Folk History of Slavery in the United States From Interviews with Former Slaves Georgia Narratives, Part 1 by Work Projects Administration

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

O'Rourke, 40, a baby boomer who seems to have teethed on brass knuckles and suckled on bile.

From Time Magazine Archive

Big Jim Farley, who teethed on such offers, knew that such a peace was the peace of political death for him.

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

Early ransomware attempts were not without teething troubles.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 6, 2026

Smart meter rollouts in the rest of the UK and in Ireland had no shortage of teething problems.

From BBC ● Apr. 28, 2026

Aston Martin are at the beginning of their new works partnership with Honda, so maybe a few teething problems were to be expected.

From BBC ● Mar. 2, 2026

She thought of carving a teething ring out of wood, but the baby would not have teeth for a while, either.

From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood

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