▪ I. teethy, a.1 Now Sc. and north. dial.
(ˈtiːθɪ)
Forms: 5 tethee, 6 tethy(e, 9 teathy, teethy.
[Etymology obscure: app. another form of teety, tetty.]
Touchy, testy, peevish, crabbed.
| c 1460 Towneley Myst. iii. 186 She is full tethee, ffor litill oft angre, If any thyng wrang be, Soyne is she wroth. 1566 Drant Horace v. H iv b, The testie, tethye, waspishe churle, with pratlynge is offended. 1825 Brockett N.C. Words, Teethy, cross, fretful, peevish; generally spoken of children. 1825 Jamieson s.v., ‘A teethy answer’, a tart reply. 1828 Craven Gloss., Teathy, peevish, cross. 1892 Boyd 25 Yrs. St. Andrews II. 96 Nor did he fail to condemn wrong doing in a fashion which Scotch folk call teethy. |
Hence ˈteethily adv., testily.
| 1879 P. R. Drummond Perthshire in Bygone Days xiv. 81 The Colonel pointed to a letter lying open on the table and said teethily [etc.]. |
▪ II. teethy, a.2
(ˈtiːθɪ)
[f. teeth, pl. of tooth n. + -y.]
Well supplied with teeth.
| 1805 A. Scott Poems (1808) 160 (E.D.D.) At his expense our teethy faes are fed. 1835 D. Webster Scot. Rhymes 136 (E.D.D.) With hero's heart and teethy jaw, Nane like him could badger draw. 1887 Jamieson's Dict., Suppl., Teethy, Toothy, having many or large teeth. |