pull teeth

verb

To extract teeth, usually because they are decayed or damaged.

“You will probably have to pull teeth to get a straight answer from a car salesman.”

Similar
get blood out of a stone
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Meanings

verbpull teeth (third-person singular simple present pulls teeth, present participle pulling teeth, simple past and past participle pulled teeth)

present singular third person pulls teeth · participle present pulling teeth · participle past pulled teeth · past pulled teeth

  1. dentistryTo extract teeth, usually because they are decayed or damaged.
  2. idiomaticintransitiveTo do something that is especially difficult or effortful.

    You will probably have to pull teeth to get a straight answer from a car salesman.

    1 more example

    “We thought there would be a mad rush of students participating in these events, and it was like pulling teeth to get students to come out,” she recalled.

    2022 October 7, Emma Goldberg, “The Job Market Has Been Like Musical Chairs. Will the Music Stop?”, in The New York Times

    Synonyms: get blood out of a stone

Synonyms & antonyms

verbTo do something that is especially difficult or effortful.

Similar
get blood out of a stone
Also see
get blood out of a stone

Translations

French se décarcasser
  • se décarcasserto do something especially difficult
Cite this entry
APA

pull teeth. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pull%20teeth

MLA

“pull teeth.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pull%20teeth. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “pull teeth,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pull%20teeth.

Source: pull teeth on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.