US /ˈtuːθpɪk/ UK /ˈtuːθpɪk/
noun Freq #23212

Meanings

  1. 1
    noun

    a small thin pointed stick used to remove food from between the teeth

    He used a wooden toothpick after the meal.

Thesaurus

Synonyms
1 noun · a small thin pointed stick... dental pickinterdental pick
Word family
Derived forms toothpickertoothpicklike
Related forms toothdental flossoral hygienepick

Etymology

A compound of tooth + pick, literally a small pointed implement for cleaning between the teeth. Tooth comes from Old English toth; pick in the tool sense denotes a pointed implement and is related to pike and peak. The compound has been used since late Middle English.

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