toothbrush

American  

[tooth-bruhsh] / ˈtuθˌbrʌʃ /

noun

1. a small brush with a long handle, for cleaning the teeth. tooth.

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toothbrush British  

/ ˈtuːθˌbrʌʃ /

noun

1. a small brush, usually with a long handle, for cleaning the teeth

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Etymology

Origin of toothbrush

First recorded in 1645–55; tooth + brush ¹

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

There’s a joke in the special that references a purple toothbrush, but, and then there’s also a reference to my aura based on the fact that I’m cooking with shallots.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 10, 2026

To overcome these drawbacks, Xing, Wenhao Qian, Xuanyong Liu, Jiajun Qiu and their team developed a new compound that produces ROS only when triggered by the motion of an electric toothbrush.

From Science Daily • Mar. 23, 2026

They also get a toothbrush, soap and towels.

From Barron's • Jan. 30, 2026

Gone are the days of laundry pods, liberal dosing on the dish sponge or covering all the bristles on his toothbrush with toothpaste, he said.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 28, 2025

"Have you ever used a toothbrush and toothpaste before?" she asks.

From "Born Behind Bars" by Padma Venkatraman

Related Words

• broom