Snaggletooth

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A tooth that projects out of alignment from the others, often protruding at an odd angle from the mouth
2. A dental characteristic marked by a tooth that stands out or extends unpredictably, resulting in an irregular occlusion with others
3. A tooth that juts out irregularly from the rest, disrupting the normal alignment

Etymology: "Snaggletooth" is a plain compound: "snaggle" joined to "tooth." The first element carries the meaning. A "snaggle" is a tooth that sticks out crookedly or askew, and the word belongs to the same family as "snag," a projecting stump or jagged point, which is itself the source of the verb "to snag," meaning to catch on something sharp. The second element, "tooth," is the ordinary Old English word, so the whole thing is a transparent descriptive coinage: a tooth that has been snagged out of line. Its meaning is fixed by its parts, so there is no older sense to recover and no shift to trace.