by God's teeth

English

Etymology

See by God and God's teeth.

Adverb

by God's teeth (not comparable)

1. I swear
   • 1850, William Shakespeare, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare: Carefully Collated and Compared with the Editions of Halliwell, Knight, Collier, and Others, with Historical and Critical Introductions and Notes to Each Play, and a Life of the Great Dramatist, Volume 1, Go W. Borland & Company, page 2:

     By God's teeth, I will not grant them liberties which will make me a slave!

   • 2000, Stephen Thomas Knight, Thomas H. Ohlgren, Robin Hood and Other Outlaw Tales, TEAMS, →ISBN, page 683:

     By God's teeth, I have been burned by this living devil so many times!

Interjection

by God's teeth

1. An exclamation of surprise or amazement.

   Synonyms: God's teeth; see also Thesaurus:wow

   • 1998, Thomas H. Ohlgren, Medieval Outlaws: Ten Tales in Modern English, Sutton, →ISBN, page 91:

     Once free his immediate reaction was to swear angrily, 'By God's teeth! I've been disgraced. I could swear I've eaten the Devil himself!'