toothsome

English

Etymology

tooth +‎ -some

Adjective

toothsome (comparative more toothsome, superlative most toothsome)

1. Delicious.
   • 1908 June, L[ucy] M[aud] Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables, Boston, Mass.: L[ouis] C[oues] Page & Company, published August 1909 (11th printing), →OCLC:

     "It's a lot nicer than going round by the road; that is so dusty and hot," said Diana practically, peeping into her dinner basket and mentally calculating if the three juicy, toothsome, raspberry tarts reposing there were divided among ten girls, how many bites each girl would have.

   • 1991, Stephen Fry, The Liar, London: Heinemann, →OCLC, page 58:

     ‘I had the happy notion of adding an egg,’ Williams shouted back. ‘It poaches in the soup. Not unlike an Italian stracciatella. Singularly toothsome...’

2. (by extension of sense 1, and by analogy to slang tasty) Sexually attractive.
   • 1989, David John Cawdell Irving, Göring: a biography:

     In 1919 he had been waiting at a bus stop, en route to his initiation as a Freemason: a toothsome blonde had crossed his path, and he had stalked off after her instead.

3. Having a pleasing texture when bitten.

   Coordinate terms: al dente, biteable, chewable, chewy

   Once the pasta is firmly al dente (toothsome but not snappy), add it into the pan, with a bunch of cheese, and cook til it all becomes glossy.

   Bagels are fine, but give me a warm bialy any time. With its crisp bits of onion nestled snugly into a golden pillow of toothsome chewiness, this is the ideal substrate for lox and a schmear—or just on its own.

4. Showing lots of teeth; toothy.

Translations

delicious — see delicious

sexually attractive

• Finnish: hemaiseva (fi)

having a pleasing texture when bitten

• Finnish: kovankypsä, al dente (al dente); napakka (fi)

showing lots of teeth — see toothy