fang

Etymology 1

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.

noun

1. a long, pointed canine tooth used for biting and tearing flesh
2. (in snakes) a long pointed tooth for injecting venom

verb

1. (rare) To strike or attack with the fangs.
2. To enable to catch or tear; to furnish with fangs.
   chariots fang'd with scythes 1722, Ambrose Philips, The Briton

Etymology 2

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”).

verb

1. (transitive, dialectal or archaic) To catch, capture; seize.
   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. 1605, John Webster, Northward Ho, act 1, scene 2
   Destruction fang mankind. c. 1605–1606, William Shakespeare, Timon of Athens, act 4, scene 3
2. (transitive, dialectal or obsolete) To take; receive with assent; accept.
3. (transitive, obsolete, as a guest) To receive with hospitality.
4. (transitive, obsolete, a thing given or imposed) To receive.
5. (transitive, dialectal) To receive or adopt into spiritual relation, as in baptism; be godfather or godmother to.

Etymology 3

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

noun

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

verb

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

Etymology 4

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

verb

1. (Australia, slang, transitive, intransitive) To drive, ride, etc. at high speed or recklessly.
   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. 2008, Mardi McConnochie, “The Mission”, in Dangerous Games
   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[…] 2014-08-01, Michael West, “Victoria's $1 billion per kilometre road - who wouldn't rail against that?”, in The Age
   Batman changed gears and fanged the car a little too fast around a corner, almost skidding onto Elizabeth Street at the back of Redfern. 2017, Karen M. Davis, Fatal Mistake