Liberal Dictionary English Dictionary
noun Dentistry.
- any of the four anterior teeth in each jaw, used for cutting and gnawing.
noun
- a chisel-edged tooth at the front of the mouth. In man there are four in each jaw
“cutting tooth,” 1670s, from Medieval Latin incisor “a cutting tooth,” literally “that which cuts into,” from Latin incisus, past participle of incidere (see incision). Inscisours as the name of a cutting tool is attested from early 15c.
n.
- Any of the four teeth adapted for cutting or gnawing, having a chisel-shaped crown and a single conical root and located in the front part of both jaws in both deciduous and permanent dentitions.
- A sharp-edged tooth in mammals that is adapted for cutting or gnawing. The incisors are located in the front of the mouth between the canine teeth.
The sharp teeth at the front of the mouth (four on the top and four on the bottom) that are specialized for cutting. (Compare molars.)