fang
nounverbverbnounverbverbcommon in dialogue
- Canada//ˈfeɪ̯ŋ//
- Canada/[ˈfeɪ̯ŋ]/
- Canada//ˈfɛ̃ŋ//
- //ˈfæŋ//
- /[ˈfæŋ]/
A long, pointed canine tooth used for biting and tearing flesh.
noun
- 1
A long, pointed canine tooth used for biting and tearing flesh.
The warrior realized in an instant that he owed his life to this strange white man, and he also saw that only a miracle could save his preserver from those fierce yellow fangs that had been so near to his own flesh.
- 2
obsoleteSynonym of mandible, the long mouthpart of insects and other invertebrates.
- 3
A long, pointed tooth in snakes, used for injecting venom.
- 4
A pointed extension of the chelicera in spiders, used for injecting venom.
- 5
Synonym of tooth, particularly in humans.
- 6
Either of the two factors that make a number a vampire number.
Etymology
From clipping of fangtooth, from Middle English *fangtooth, *fengtooth, from Old English fengtōþ (“molar tooth”), from feng, preterite of fōn (“to catch, take, seize”). Cognate with German Fangzahn (“fang”, literally “catch-tooth”) and Dutch vangtand. See also related senses of Etymology 3 below.
verb
- 1
rareTo strike or attack with the fangs.
- 2
To enable to catch or tear; to furnish with fangs.
chariots fang'd with scythes
verb
- 1
archaicTo catch, capture; seize.
Gentlemen, break not the head of the peace: it's to no purpose, for he's in the law's clutches; you see he's fanged.
Destruction fang mankind.
- 2
obsoleteTo take; receive with assent; accept.
- 3
obsoleteTo receive with hospitality.
- 4
obsoleteTo receive.
- 5
To receive or adopt into spiritual relation, as in baptism; be godfather or godmother to.
Etymology
From Middle English fangen, fongen, from Old English fōn (“to take, grasp, seize, catch, capture, make prisoner, receive, accept, assume, undertake, meet with, encounter”), and Old Norse fanga (“to fetch, capture”), both from Proto-Germanic *fanhaną, *fangōną (“to catch, capture”), from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂ḱ- (“to attach”). Cognate with North Frisian fo, fu, füünj (“to get, obtain, receive”), Saterland Frisian and West Frisian fange (“to catch”), Dutch vangen (“to catch”), German fangen, fahen (“to catch”), Low German fangen (“to catch”), Luxembourgish fänken (“to catch”), Faroese fá, fáa (“to get; to catch”), Icelandic fá (“to get, receive”), Danish, Norwegian, Swedish få (“to get, receive”), Albanian peng (“to hinder, hold captive”), Sanskrit पाशयति (pāśáyati, “(s)he binds”).
noun
- 1
A grasping; capture; the act or power of seizing; hold.
- 2
That which is seized or carried off; booty; spoils; stolen goods.
- 3
obsoleteAny item, body part, or projection used for or capable of catching or seizing, particularly Synonym of trap or noose.
- 4
Any item, body part, or projection used for or capable of catching or seizing, particularly Synonym of root, the part of a tooth embedded in the gums.
- 5
obsoleteAny item, body part, or projection used for or capable of catching or seizing, particularly Synonym of root, a major projection of a plant's root system.
Now take out your Indian Tuberoſes, parting the Off-ſets (but with care, leſt you break their fangs) then pot them in natural (not forc'd) Earth; [...] the protuberant fangs of the Yuca are to be treated like the Tuberoſes.
- 6
obsoleteAny item, body part, or projection used for or capable of catching or seizing, particularly Synonym of claw or talon.
- 7
Any item, body part, or projection used for or capable of catching or seizing, particularly Synonym of spike or prong, any sharp projection.
- 8
Any item, body part, or projection used for or capable of catching or seizing, particularly Synonym of tang, the projection of a piece of metal intended to be driven into a shaft for holding.
- 9
archaicSynonym of vang, a line extended from the end of a gaff to control its position.
- 10
The valve of a pump-box.
- 11
A channel cut or pipe set for the purpose of carrying fresh air to working miners.
- 12
rareCatches on which a coalmining cage rests while cars are being moved on and off.
Etymology
From Middle English fang, possibly from Old English fang, feng (“grasp, catch”); alternatively borrowed from Old Norse fang (“catch”) or formed anew from the verb fangen, all from Proto-Germanic *fangą (“catch, catching, seizure”), from the verb *fanhaną (“to catch, capture”), from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂ḱ- (“to attach”). Compare Scots fang (“catch”), Dutch vang (“a catch”), Low German fangst (“a catch”), German Fang (“a catch, capture, booty”), Swedish fång, fångst, Icelandic fang. Related also to Latin pangere (“to solidify, drive in”), Albanian mpij (“to benumb, stiffen”), Ancient Greek πήγνυμι (pḗgnumi, “to stiffen, firm up”), Sanskrit पाशयति (pāśáyati, “(s)he binds”).
verb
- 1
To supply (a pump) with the water necessary for it to operate.
verb
- 1
slangTo drive, ride, etc. at high speed or recklessly.
Soph was probably out drag-racing with Draz, or fanging down some brightly lit street somewhere hanging out Draz's brother's sunroof and waving at passers-by and screaming.
The question of whether rail might be a better long-term option than road is passed over with the speed of a merchant banker fanging up the toll road to Mount Buller for the weekend[…]
Batman changed gears and fanged the car a little too fast around a corner, almost skidding onto Elizabeth Street at the back of Redfern.
Etymology
The Macquarie Dictionary and the Australian National Dictionary Centre derive it from the name of Juan Fangio, Argentinian racing driver.
Forms
- plural
- fangs
- past tense
- fanged
- past participle
- fanged
- present participle
- fanging
- third person singular
- fangs
fang · A long, pointed canine tooth used for biting and tearing flesh.
Fang · A people of western Africa.FANG · Four large technology companies, or (metonymically) their…fanny · The female genitalia.