Meanings
present singular third person cuts one's teeth · participle present cutting one's teeth
- idiomaticTo begin; to gain early experience.
He cut his teeth on flying model airplanes as a child, so aeronautical engineering came naturally.
1 more example
Born and raised outside Copenhagen, he studied at the Royal Danish Design School, later cutting his teeth in Paris under Pritzker Prize winner Jean Nouvel and in New York working for AD100 Hall of Famer Peter Marino.
2026 May 28, Sam Cochran, “Feeling Zen”, in Architectural Digest, volume 83, number 4, page 100
Translations
Finnish aloittaa
- aloittaagain early experience
French faire ses dents, se faire les dents sur ...
- faire ses dentsgain early experience
- se faire les dents sur ...gain early experience
Italian farsi le ossa, fare la gavetta
- farsi le ossagain early experience
- fare la gavettagain early experience
Latvian bērnam nāk zobi
- bērnam nāk zobigain early experience
Polish zjeść zęby
- zjeść zębygain early experience
Spanish hacer sus pinitos, hacer sus primeras armas
- hacer sus pinitosgain early experience
- hacer sus primeras armasgain early experience
Cite this entry
cut one's teeth. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cut%20one's%20teeth
“cut one's teeth.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cut%20one's%20teeth. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “cut one's teeth,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cut%20one's%20teeth.
Source: cut one's teeth on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.