fang

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) enPR: făng; IPA^(key): /fæŋ/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• Rhymes: -æŋ

From an abbreviation of fangtooth, from Middle English *fangtooth, *fengtooth, from Old English fengtōþ (“canine tooth”, literally “snag-tooth, catch-tooth”). Cognate with German Fangzahn (“fang”, literally “catch-tooth”) and Dutch vangtand.

fang (plural fangs)

1. A long, pointed canine tooth used for biting and tearing flesh.
   • 1913, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Return of Tarzan, New York: Ballantine Books, published 1963, page 123:

     The warrior realized in an instant that he owed his life to this strange white man, and he also saw that only a miracle could save his preserver from those fierce yellow fangs that had been so near to his own flesh.

2. A long pointed tooth in snakes, for injecting venom.
3. (mathematics) Either of the two factors that make a number a vampire number.

fang (third-person singular simple present fangs, present participle fanging, simple past and past participle fanged)

1. (rare) To strike or attack with the fangs.
2. To enable to catch or tear; to furnish with fangs.
   • 1722, Ambrose Philips, The Briton:

     chariots fang'd with scythes

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 (“to catch, capture”), 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 (pāśáyati, “(s)he binds”).

fang (third-person singular simple present fangs, present participle fanging, simple past and past participle fanged)

2. (transitive, dialectal or archaic) To catch, capture; seize.

   Synonyms: clasp, grasp, grip, clutch, lay hold of; see also Thesaurus:grasp

   • 1605, John Webster, Northward Ho, act 1, scene 2:

     Gentlemen, break not the head of the peace: it's to no purpose, for he's in the law's clutches; you see he's fanged.

   • c. 1605–1606, William Shakespeare, Timon of Athens, act 4, scene 3:

     Destruction fang mankind.

3. (transitive, dialectal or obsolete) To take; receive with assent; accept.

   Synonyms: land, lay hands on, score; see also Thesaurus:receive, Thesaurus:take

4. (transitive, obsolete, as a guest) To receive with hospitality.

   Synonyms: greet, welcome

5. (transitive, obsolete, a thing given or imposed) To receive.

   Synonyms: cop, get; see also Thesaurus:receive

6. (transitive, dialectal) To receive or adopt into spiritual relation, as in baptism; be godfather or godmother to.

From Middle English fang, possibly from Old English fang, feng (“grasp, catch”); alternatively borrowed from Old Norse fang (“catch”) or formed anew from the verb fangen, all from Proto-Germanic *fangą (“catch, catching, seizure”), from the verb *fanhaną (“to catch, capture”), from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂ḱ- (“to attach”).

Compare Scots fang (“catch”), 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 (pḗgnumi, “to stiffen, firm up”), Sanskrit पाशयति (pāśáyati, “(s)he binds”).

fang (plural fangs)

1. (now chiefly dialectal, Scotland) A grasping; capture; the act or power of seizing; hold.
2. That which is seized or carried off; booty; spoils; stolen goods.
3. Any projection, catch, shoot, or other thing by which hold is taken; a prehensile part or organ.
   • 1669, John Evelyn, “Kalendarium Hortense: OrThe Gard’ners Almanac; […] [April.]”, in Sylva, or A Discourse of Forest-trees and the Propagation of Timber in His Majesties Dominions. […], 3rd edition, London: […] Jo[hn] Martyn, and Ja[mes] Allestry, printers to the Royal Society, →OCLC, page 15:

     Now take out your Indian Tuberoſes, parting the Off-ſets (but with care, leſt you break their fangs) then pot them in natural (not forc'd) Earth; [...] the protuberant fangs of the Yuca are to be treated like the Tuberoſes.

4. (mining) A channel cut in the rock, or a pipe of wood, used for conveying air.
5. (mining, rare, in the plural) Catches on which the coal mining cage rests while cars are being moved on and off.

   Synonym: cage-shuts

6. (nautical) The coil or bend of a rope; (by extension) a noose; a trap.
7. (nautical) The valve of a pump box.

• (stolen goods): See Thesaurus:booty

• fanging
• lose the fang

fang (third-person singular simple present fangs, present participle fanging, simple past and past participle fanged)

1. (Scotland, transitive) To supply (a pump) with the water necessary for it to operate.

The Macquarie Dictionary and the Australian National Dictionary Centre derive it from the name of Juan Fangio, Argentinian racing driver.^[1]

fang (third-person singular simple present fangs, present participle fanging, simple past and past participle fanged)

1. (Australia, slang, transitive, intransitive) To drive, ride, etc. at high speed or recklessly.
   • 2008, Mardi McConnochie, “The Mission”, in Dangerous Games:

     Soph was probably out drag-racing with Draz, or fanging down some brightly lit street somewhere hanging out Draz's brother's sunroof and waving at passers-by and screaming.

   • 2014 August 1, Michael West, “Victoria's $1 billion per kilometre road - who wouldn't rail against that?”, in The Age‎^[2]:

     The question of whether rail might be a better long-term option than road is passed over with the speed of a merchant banker fanging up the toll road to Mount Buller for the weekend […]

   • 2017, Karen M. Davis, Fatal Mistake:

     Batman changed gears and fanged the car a little too fast around a corner, almost skidding onto Elizabeth Street at the back of Redfern.

• fang it

fang m

1. Gheg form of fëng

From Vulgar Latin *fangus ~ *fanga (“mud”) of Germanic origin, see there for more.

• IPA^(key): (Central) [ˈfaŋ]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic, Valencia) [ˈfaŋk]

• Audio:

  (file)

fang m (plural fangs)

1. mud

• a pastar fang
• fangós
• parafang

• → Spanish: fango

• llot

• “fang”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “fang”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025.
• “fang” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “fang” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

fang

1. imperative of fange
   1. Catch.
   2. Capture.

      Fang mig! ― Catch me!

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aŋ

fang

1. singular imperative of fangen

From Old Norse fang (“catch; embrace, hold (in wrestling)”), from Proto-Germanic *fangą (“catch”), from Proto-Germanic *fanhaną (“to take, to seize; to catch, to capture”).

• IPA^(key): /fauŋk/
• Rhymes: -auŋk

fang n (genitive singular fangs, nominative plural föng)

1. embrace, hold, grasp

   Synonym: faðmur

2. (in the plural) provisions

   Synonym: vistir

3. conceptus

   Synonym: þungunarvefir

• fá (“to get, to receive”)
• fengur (“catch; benefit, gain”)

fang

1. nonstandard spelling of fāng
2. nonstandard spelling of fáng
3. nonstandard spelling of fǎng
4. nonstandard spelling of fàng

• Transcriptions of Mandarin into the Latin script often do not distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without indication of tone.

fang n (definite singular fanget, indefinite plural fang, definite plural fanga or fangene)

1. lap

fang

1. imperative of fange

• IPA^(key): /fɑŋː/

From Old Norse fang.

fang n (definite singular fanget, indefinite plural fang, definite plural fanga)

1. lap

fang

1. imperative of fanga

• “fang” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

From Proto-Germanic *fangą, *fangiz, *fanhiz (“catch, catching, seizure”), from *fanhaną (“to catch, capture”).

• IPA^(key): /fɑnɡ/, [fɑŋɡ]

fang m

1. plunder, booty

Strong a-stem:

• fōn
• herefong

• IPA^(key): /faŋk/
• (Islay) IPA^(key): [fɛŋk]

From Old Irish fang (compare Welsh gwanc (“voracity”)).

fang f (genitive singular fainge, plural fangan)

1. vulture
2. raven

• Edward Dwelly (1911) “fang”, in Faclair Gàidhlig gu Beurla le Dealbhan [The Illustrated Gaelic–English Dictionary]‎^[3], 10th edition, Edinburgh: Birlinn Limited, →ISBN
• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “fang”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language

From Scots fank.

• faing

fang f (genitive singular faing, plural fangan) (Uist, Barra, Skye, Easter Ross, Inverness-shire, Perthshire, Argyll)

1. fank, sheepfold

• IPA^(key): /ˈfan/ [ˈfãn]
• Rhymes: -an
• Syllabification: fang

fang m (uncountable)

1. Fang (language)

• “fang”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024