arm to the teeth

English

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

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Verb

arm to the teeth (third-person singular simple present arms to the teeth, present participle arming to the teeth, simple past and past participle armed to the teeth)

1. (idiomatic) To equip thoroughly with weapons.
   • 1809, Washington Irving, chapter 33, in Knickerbocker's History of New York:

     There, on the ramparts of the forts, stood Nicholas Koorn, armed to the teeth, flourishing a brass-hilted sword.

   • 1910, H. Rider Haggard, chapter 15, in Queen Sheba's Ring:

     Who can murmur sweet nothings to his adored when two soldiers armed to the teeth have been instructed never to let him out of their sight?

   • 2009 May 25, Michael Schuman, “Building Bridges to China”, in Time:

     Both sides armed the Taiwan Strait to the teeth, turning it into one of Asia's most dangerous military flash points.

Translations

to equip with weapons

• Azerbaijani: təpədən dırnağa kimi silahlandırmaq
• Catalan: anar armat fins a les dents
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 武裝到牙齒／武装到牙齿 (wǔzhuāng dào yáchǐ)

• Danish: bevæbnet til tændene
• Dutch: tot de tanden gewapend
• Finnish: aseistaa hampaisiin saakka
• French: armer jusqu’aux dents
• German: bis an die Zähne bewaffnet sein (de)
• Greek: οπλίζω σαν αστακό (oplízo san astakó), οπλισμένος σαν αστακός (oplisménos san astakós, literally “armed like a lobster”)
• Hebrew: לחמש מכף רגל ועד ראש, לחמש עד האוזניים, לחמש עד השיניים, לחמש עד הצוואר
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: væpnet til tennene

• Polish: uzbroić po zęby
• Portuguese: armar até os dentes
• Romanian: înarma până în dinți
• Russian: вооружи́ть до зубо́в pf (vooružítʹ do zubóv)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: наоружати до зуба pf

  Roman: naoružati do zuba pf

• Spanish: armar hasta los dientes
• Swedish: beväpnad till tänderna (sv)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked‌: "moved to lemma form"

• Slovene: ^{(please verify)} do zob oborožen

See also

• loaded for bear