dogtooth

• dog tooth, dog-tooth, dog's tooth

From Middle English dogge tothe, calque of Latin dens caninus (“doglike tooth”). Equivalent to dog +‎ tooth.

dogtooth (plural dogtooths or dogteeth)

1. Synonym of cuspid, a pointed tooth between the incisors and premolars.
   • 1552, Richard Huloet, Abcedarium Anglico Latinum..., s.v.:

     Dogges teeth, dentes canini.

   • 1594, Thomas Bowes translating Pierre de la Primaudaye as The French Academie..., Vol. II, p. 105:

     There are other twaine on each side, commonly called Dogge-teeth.

   • 1991, Amy Tan, The Kitchen God's Wife, p. 200:

     When he smiled... one of his dogteeth stuck out.

2. (architecture) An ornament common in Gothic architecture, consisting of pointed projections resembling teeth.
   • 1851, John Ruskin, “The Edge and Fillet”, in The Stones of Venice, volume I (The Foundations), London: Smith, Elder, and Co., […], →OCLC, § IV, page 260:

     This arch is the side of a niche from the tomb of Can Signorio della Scala, at Verona; and the value, as well as the distant expression of its dogtooth, may be seen by referring to Prout's beautiful drawing of this tomb in his "Sketches in France and Italy."

3. Synonym of houndstooth.
4. A dogtooth violet.
5. (aviation) Alternative form of dog tooth, a jagged leading edge of a wing.