cut one's eyeteeth

eye·tooth

C c

Transcription

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- [ahy-tooth]
- /ˈaɪˌtuθ/

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- [ahy-tooth]
- /ˈaɪˌtuθ/

Definitions of cut one's eyeteeth words

noun cut one's eyeteeth to become experienced or sophisticated 3
noun plural cut one's eyeteeth Dentistry. a canine tooth of the upper jaw: so named from its position under the eye. 1
idioms cut one's eyeteeth cut one's eyeteeth, to gain sophistication or experience; become worldly-wise. Also, cut one's eyeteeth on. to be initiated or gain one's first experience in (a career, hobby, skill, etc.). 1
idioms cut one's eyeteeth give one's eyeteeth, to give something one considers very precious, usually in exchange for an object or situation one desires: She would give her eyeteeth for that job. 1

See all 4 definitions of cut one's eyeteeth

Information block about the term

Origin of cut one's eyeteeth

First appearance:

before 1570

One of the 33% oldest English words

First recorded in 1570-80; eye + tooth

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Cut one's eyeteeth

noun

adjective

verb

adverb

pronoun

preposition

conjunction

determiner

exclamation

Full grammatical hierarchy of Cut one's eyeteeth

cut one's eyeteeth popularity

A pretty common term. Usually people know it’s meaning, but prefer to use a more spread out synonym. About 54% of English native speakers know the meaning and use word.

This word is included in each student's vocabulary. Most likely there is at least one movie with this word in the title.

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