- long in the tooth
- phrasal
: past one's best days : old
as fighters go, he is a sere and yellowed leaf and long in the tooth — Gilbert Millstein
* * *
long in the toothElderly, like a horse whose gums are receding with age• • •Main Entry: ↑tooth* * *
rather oldI’m a bit long in the tooth to be looking for a girlfriend.
Main entry: long* * *
rather oldOrigin:originally said of horses, from the recession of the gums with age* * *
long in the tooth — see ↑tooth• • •Main Entry: ↑long————————long in the toothinformal : no longer young : ↑oldIsn't she a little long in the tooth for those kinds of antics?
• • •Main Entry: ↑tooth* * *
ˌlong in the ˈtooth idiom(humorous, especially BrE) old or too old This originally referred to the fact that a horse's teeth appear to be longer as it grows older, because its gums shrink.
Useful english dictionary. 2012.