bare one's teeth

Also, show one's teeth. Indicate hostility and readiness to fight, as in His refusal to accept my offer made it clear I'd have to bare my teeth, or In this instance, calling in a lawyer is showing one's teeth. This figurative term transfers the snarl of a dog to human anger. It first was recorded as show one's teeth in 1615.

Common Names:

Name	Pronounced	Usage
Angelina	ahn-je-LEE-nah (Italian), an-jə-LEEN-ə (English), ahn-GYE-lee-nah (Russian), ahn-gye-LEE-nah (Russian), ahn-gee-LEE-nah (Russian), ahn-ge-LEE-nah (Polish)	Italian, English, Russian, German, Dutch, Polish, Spanish, Macedonian
Anong	-	Thai
Terezinha	-	Portuguese (Brazilian)
Upton	UP-tən	English (Rare)
Coco	KO-ko	Various
Dugald	-	Scottish