Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

red in tooth and claw

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.46 in modern English

Syllables: red in -tooth and -claw
IPA

27

Scrabble Score

17

Letters

3

Syllables

12

Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Characterized by uncaring, amoral ruthlessness or brutality, especially of a kind seen as reflecting the way of things in nature.

Example Sentences

"We love nature, but nature doesn't love us. One night in the Amazon rainforest will show us that nature is red in tooth and claw."
"And he, shall he, Man, her last work, who seem’d so fair, […] Who trusted God was love indeed And love Creation’s final law— Tho’ Nature, red in tooth and claw With ravine, shriek’d against his creed— […] Be blown about the desert dust, Or seal’d within the iron hills?"

Etymology

From Alfred, Lord Tennyson's poem In Memoriam A.H.H.

Phrases

red-toothed tooth and nail law of nature law of the jungle natural law nature of the beast

Frequently Paired Words

red-toothed tooth and nail Hobbesian law of nature law of the jungle natural law nature of the beast

Questions

What does red in tooth and claw mean?: Characterized by uncaring, amoral ruthlessness or brutality, especially of a kind seen as reflecting the way of things in nature.
Where does red in tooth and claw come from?: From Alfred, Lord Tennyson's poem In Memoriam A.H.H.

How to pronounce red in tooth and claw

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