toothbrush
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of toothbrush
Explanation
When you clean your teeth, you use a toothbrush. Most toothbrushes are made of plastic, with soft bristles at one end for scrubbing your teeth. Before the modern toothbrush was invented, people used things like sticks, feathers, bones, and porcupine quills to clean their teeth. Twigs with frayed ends, called "chew sticks," were the toothbrush's precursor, and they are still used in various parts of the world. The earliest toothbrushes were invented in China, and the first patent was awarded in 1857 in the U.S. for a toothbrush with a bone handle and boar's hair bristles.
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:
Boots, sun cream, toothbrush: players on World Cup duty have plenty of essential items to remember.
From BBC ● Jun. 6, 2026
A graphene antibacterial toothbrush developed through patents from the faculty-led startup 'Materials Creation Co.,
From Science Daily ● Apr. 26, 2026
Picking a color when you’re getting a new toothbrush.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 10, 2026
She cleans their teeth with an electric toothbrush, a dental tool for plaque and a breath-freshener spray.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 31, 2026
I rifle through the pack and find a toothbrush and a little bouquet of new lip glosses tied together by a silver ribbon.
From "Love, Hate & Other Filters" by Samira Ahmed
Volunteers organized the supplies — toothbrushes, baby wipes, instant soup and many other items — and loaded them into boxes, drawing hearts on the outside with magic marker.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 29, 2026
Crucially, all specimens came from wild populations, meaning their tooth wear could not have been influenced by toothbrushes, soft drinks or processed foods.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 8, 2026
WSJ | Buy Side: We tested all the top options to bring you the electric toothbrushes worth buying.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 20, 2026
Khalid, Julia and Benjamin don't have passports, and they've had to pay for things like toothbrushes out of pocket while detained in a hotel in Malabo, the economic capital.
From Barron's ● Feb. 26, 2026
She unpacked the toothbrushes and toothpaste and comb into the bathroom.
From "Homecoming" by Cynthia Voigt
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.
