different between tooth vs barb

English

Etymology

From Middle English tothe, toth, tooth, from Old English t?þ (“tooth”), from Proto-West Germanic *tanþ, from Proto-Germanic *tanþs (“tooth”), from Proto-Indo-European *h?dónts (“tooth”). Related to tusk. Doublet of dent and dens.

Pronunciation

• enPR: to?oth, IPA^(key): /tu??/
• Rhymes: -u??
• Homophone: twoth
• (Wales, Midlands, usually) IPA^(key): /t??/

Noun

tooth (plural teeth)

1. A hard, calcareous structure present in the mouth of many vertebrate animals, generally used for eating.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:tooth

   Hyponyms: bicuspid, canine, cuspid, incisor, premolar, molar; see also Thesaurus:tooth

2. A sharp projection on the blade of a saw or similar implement.
3. A projection on the edge of a gear that meshes with similar projections on adjacent gears, or on the circumference of a cog that engages with a chain.
4. (zoology) A projection or point in other parts of the body resembling the tooth of a vertebrate animal.
5. (botany) A pointed projection from the margin of a leaf.
6. (animation) The rough surface of some kinds of cel or other films that allows better adhesion of artwork.
7. (figuratively) Liking, fondness (compare toothsome).

   Synonyms: fondness, appetite, taste, palate

   • 1693, John Dryden, “The Third Satire of Aulus Persius Flaccus”, in The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis:

     These are not dishes for thy dainty tooth

8. (algebraic geometry) An irreducible component of a comb that intersects the handle in exactly one point, that point being distinct from the unique point of intersection for any other tooth of the comb.

Derived terms

Translations

See also

Verb

tooth (third-person singular simple present tooths, present participle toothing, simple past and past participle toothed)

1. To provide or furnish with teeth.
   • 1815, William Wordsworth, “The Brothers”:

     His Wife sate near him, teasing matted wool, / While, from the twin cards toothed with glittering wire / He fed the spindle […]

2. To indent; to jag.

   to tooth a saw

3. To lock into each other, like gear wheels.

Anagrams

• Hotot

Middle English

Noun

tooth

1. Alternative form of tothe

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /b??(?)b/
• Rhymes: -??(?)b

Etymology 1

From Middle English barbe, from Middle French barbe, from Old French barbe (“beard, beard-like element”). Doublet of beard.

Noun

barb (plural barbs)

1. The point that stands backward in an arrow, fishhook, etc., to prevent it from being easily extracted. Hence: Anything which stands out with a sharp point obliquely or crosswise to something else.
   • 1545, Roger Ascham, Toxophilus

     Having two barbs or points.

2. (figuratively) A hurtful or disparaging remark.
3. A beard, or that which resembles it, or grows in the place of it.

   • The barbel is so called […] by reason of his barbs, or wattles at his mouth.

4. (ornithology) One of the many side branches of a feather, which collectively constitute the vane.
5. (ichthyology) Any of various species of freshwater carp-like fish that have barbels and belong to the cyprinid family.
6. (US) The sciaenid fish Menticirrhus americanus, found along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts of the United States.

   Synonyms: Carolina whiting, king whiting, southern kingcroaker, southern kingfish

7. (botany) A hair or bristle ending in a double hook.
8. (obsolete) A muffler, worn by nuns and mourners.
9. Paps, or little projections, of the mucous membrane, which mark the opening of the submaxillary glands under the tongue in horses and cattle. The name is mostly applied when the barbs are inflamed and swollen.

   Synonyms: barbel, barble

10. (obsolete) A bit for a horse.

    (Can we find and add a quotation of Spenser to this entry?)

11. A plastic fastener, shaped roughly like a capital I (with serifs), used to attach socks etc. to their packaging.

Translations

Verb

barb (third-person singular simple present barbs, present participle barbing, simple past and past participle barbed)

1. To furnish with barbs, or with that which will hold or hurt like barbs, as an arrow, fishhook, spear, etc.
   • 1674, John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book 6, lines 544-6, [2]

     […] for this day will pour down, / If I conjecture aught, no drizzling shower, / But rattling storm of arrows barbed with fire.

   • 1944, Emily Carr, The House of All Sorts, "Meg the Worker," [3]

     Her coat was a tangled mass, barbed with last year's burs, matted disgustingly with cow dung.

2. (Nigeria) To cut (hair).
3. (obsolete) To shave or dress the beard of.
4. (obsolete) To clip; to mow.
   • 1603, John Marston, The Malcontent

     The stooping scythe-man , that doth barb the field

Translations

Etymology 2

Clipping of Barbary.

Noun

barb (plural barbs)

1. The Barbary horse, a superior breed introduced from Barbary into Spain by the Moors.
2. A blackish or dun variety of pigeon, originally brought from Barbary.

Etymology 3

Clipping of barbiturate.

Noun

barb (plural barbs)

1. (informal, pharmacology) A barbiturate.

   Coordinate term: benzo

Etymology 4

Corruption of bard.

Noun

barb (plural barbs)

1. Armor for a horse.
   • 1786, Francis Grose, A Treatise on Ancient Armour and Weapons, page 29:

     The defensive armor with the horses of the ancient knights ... These are frequently, though improperly, stiled barbs.

Translations

Verb

barb (third-person singular simple present barbs, present participle barbing, simple past and past participle barbed)

1. To cover a horse in armor.

Further reading

• barb on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• barb (fish) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Barb in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)

Anagrams

• BBAR, Rabb, abbr, abbr.

Catalan

Etymology

From Latin barbus.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Valencian) IPA^(key): /?ba?p/
• (Central) IPA^(key): /?barp/

Noun

barb m (plural barbs)

1. barbel

Further reading

• “barb” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

Manx

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Adjective

barb (plural barbey, comparative barbey)

1. sharp, drastic
2. cruel, rough

Derived terms

• neuvarb

Noun

barb m (genitive singular [please provide], plural [please provide])

1. sharp point, javelin

Mutation