Armed to the teeth

Posted by Smokey Stover on March 11, 2006

In Reply to: Armed to the teeth posted by Hong WK on March 11, 2006

: What's meaning of "armed to the teeth"?

Even in the old days of personal armor, one did not armor ones teeth. So "armed to the teeth" means armed to the utmost, as fully armed as one can be. The reference to teeth, I believe, connotes an element of excess, as the gills do in "dressed to the gills." Since humans don't have gills, "dressed to the gills" connotes an element of excess, at least to me. SS

• Armed to the teeth RRC 12/March/06
  • Armed to the teeth Lewis 14/March/06