- egg tooth
- noun
: a hard sharp prominence on the tip of the beak or nose of embryo birds and oviparous reptiles with which they break through the eggshell; also : an analogous chitinous prominence on the head of an insect
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a calcareous prominence at the tip of the beak or upper jaw of an embryonic bird or reptile, used to break through the eggshell at hatching.[1890-95]* * *
egg tooth nounA hard point on the beak by which an unhatched bird or reptile breaks the eggshell• • •Main Entry: ↑egg* * *
egg tooth,a hard, toothlike projection developing in the jaws of embryo birds, chicks, snakes, and other oviparous animals, that serves to cut the egg membrane and shell at hatching and then drops off.* * *
n. a hard white protuberance on the beak or jaw of an embryo bird or reptile that is used for breaking out of the shell and is later lost
Useful english dictionary. 2012.