red in tooth and claw

English

Etymology

From Alfred, Lord Tennyson's poem In Memoriam A.H.H.

Adjective

red in tooth and claw (not comparable)

1. Characterized by uncaring, amoral ruthlessness or brutality, especially of a kind seen as reflecting the way of things in nature.

   We love nature, but nature doesn't love us. One night in the Amazon rainforest will show us that nature is red in tooth and claw.

   • 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, Canto LVI:

     And he, shall he,
     Man, her last work, who seem’d so fair, […]
     Who trusted God was love indeed
     And love Creation’s final law—
     Tho’ Nature, red in tooth and claw
     With ravine, shriek’d against his creed— […]
     Be blown about the desert dust,
     Or seal’d within the iron hills?

Related terms

• tooth and nail

See also

• red-toothed