toothpaste
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of toothpaste
Explanation
Toothpaste is the stuff you put on your toothbrush to clean your teeth. Toothpaste polishes your teeth, freshens your breath, and makes you altogether more pleasant to be around. Most toothpaste is a thick paste or gel, a type of dentifrice, or cleaning agent for teeth. Humans have used some version of toothpaste since at least 5000 BCE, when the ancient Egyptians cleaned their teeth with a mixture of crushed eggshells, pumice, and burnt ox hooves. Today's toothpaste is more likely to contain ingredients like fluoride, baking soda, and mint flavoring.
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.
Toothpaste is mostly made from water and minerals, but a small portion comes from oil-derived ingredients.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 21, 2026
Toothpaste made from your own hair could help repair and protect damaged teeth, researchers say.
From BBC • Aug. 13, 2025
“Floor Cake” and “Floor Burger,” both from 1962, led to a “Giant Toothpaste Tube” and an entire “Bathroom” installed at the Museum of Modern Art in 1969.
From New York Times • Jul. 18, 2022
O That Pesto Toothpaste: It leaves your mouth garlicky fresh and your teeth gleaming green!
From Washington Post • Jan. 21, 2021
Toothpaste Is supposed to get dye stains off skin.
From "The First Rule of Punk" by Celia C. Pérez
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.
