fang
- Noun:
- A long, sharp tooth: Specifically, a hollow or grooved tooth of a venomous snake, through which venom is injected.
- A canine tooth: A long, pointed tooth of a carnivorous mammal, such as a dog or wolf, used for seizing and tearing prey.
- A specialized appendage: In some arthropods, like spiders or centipedes, a fang is a pointed structure used to inject venom, often evolved from a modified leg.
- A language: A Bantu language spoken in parts of Cameroon.
Noun (Snake tooth): The viper's fang delivers a potent neurotoxin.The snake sank its fangs into the prey.
Noun (Mammal tooth): The wolf bared its formidable fangs.The dog's fang was chipped in the fight.
Noun (Arthropod appendage): The tarantula uses its fangs to inject venom and liquefy its prey's insides.The centipede's forcipules function as venomous fangs.
Noun (Language): Fang is one of the principal languages spoken in northern Gabon.
"To bare one's fangs": To show aggression or make a threat explicit. The corporation finally bared its fangs and filed a lawsuit against the small competitor.
"Long in the fang" (idiomatic, rare/archaic): Old, especially referring to an experienced or aged person or animal. He was a sailor long in the fang, with stories from every ocean.
Fanged (adjective): Having fangs. The fanged serpent was a creature of legend.
Fangless (adjective): Lacking fangs. The species is a fangless constrictor.
- Tusk: A long, protruding tooth, especially of an elephant or walrus (differs as it is not typically for venom injection).
- Canine: The pointed tooth in mammals (a more general anatomical term).
- Stinger: A sharp organ for piercing and injecting venom, as in bees or scorpions (differs in biological origin).
(Note: "Fang" is primarily a noun and does not commonly form phrasal verbs. Combinations typically involve it as the object of a verb.) - To sink (one's) fangs into: To bite deeply with fangs; figuratively, to become deeply involved in or critical of something. The critic sank his fangs into the director's latest film.
- "Fang and claw": Using every available means, especially aggressive or primal ones; to fight fiercely.
- "Like drawing a snake's fang": Rendering something dangerous harmless.
- hollow or grooved tooth of a venomous snake; used to inject its poison
- canine tooth of a carnivorous animal; used to seize and tear its prey
- an appendage of insects that is capable of injecting venom; usually evolved from the legs
- a Bantu language spoken in Cameroon