fang

Meanings

Noun

  • a long, pointed canine tooth used for biting and tearing flesh
  • a long pointed tooth for injecting venom
  • A grasping; capture; the act or power of seizing; hold.
  • That which is seized or carried off; booty; spoils; stolen goods.
  • Any projection, catch, shoot, or other thing by which hold is taken; a prehensile part or organ.
  • A channel cut in the rock, or a pipe of wood, used for conveying air.
  • Catches on which the coal mining cage rests while cars are being moved on and off.
  • The coil or bend of a rope; a noose; a trap.
  • The valve of a pump box.

Verb

Origin

  • From an abbreviation of fangtooth, from Middle English *fangtooth, *fengtooth, from Old English fængtōþ, fengtōþ. Cognate with German Fangzahn ("fang") and Dutch vangtand.
  • From Middle English fangen, 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, from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂ḱ- ("to attach"). Cognate with West Frisian fange ("to catch"), Dutch vangen ("to catch"), German fangen ("to catch"), Danish fange ("to catch"), Albanian peng ("to hinder, hold captive"), Sanskrit पाशयति ("(s)he binds").
  • From Middle English fang, feng, from Old English fang, feng, from Proto-Germanic *fangą, *fangiz, *fanhiz, from *fanhaną, from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂ḱ- ("to attach"). Cognate with Scots fang ("that which is taken, capture, catch, prey, booty"), 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 ("to stiffen, firm up"), Sanskrit पाशयति ("(s)he binds").
  • The Macquarie Dictionary and the Australian National Dictionary Centre derive it from the name of Juan Fangio, Argentinian racing driver.

Modern English dictionary

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