"if it had teeth, it'd bite one" meaning in English

See if it had teeth, it'd bite one in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Phrase

Head templates: {{head|en|phrase}} if it had teeth, it'd bite one
  1. (US, colloquial, humorous) It is in plain sight; one should be able to see it for oneself. Tags: US, colloquial, humorous
    Sense id: en-if_it_had_teeth,_it'd_bite_one-en-phrase-SYuRD2gP Categories (other): American English, English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries
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      "expansion": "if it had teeth, it'd bite one",
      "name": "head"
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  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "phrase",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "American English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
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          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1942, Albert Hackett, Frances Goodrich, Western Union, Please: A Comedy in Three Acts, page 5:",
          "text": "ALICE. Where's the sugar, Mother?\nJENNIE. Right under your nose. If it had teeth, it'd bite you.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1994, Lawrence Sanders, Three Complete Novels, page 354:",
          "text": "Maybe there was a gross flaw, so obvious that they were all missing it, just as Mario sometimes said, \"Where's the dried oregano?\" when the jar was in plain view on the countertop. Then Dora would say, \"If it had teeth, it'd bite you.\"",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2008, Barbara Parisi, The Best American Short Plays, 2004-2005, page 270:",
          "text": "LETTY (Quite suddenly younger, timid.) Ma says to pass the salt, Pa.\nCAP (Deep voiced, strong, harsh.) You can tell her it's over there.\nLETTY She says where, Pa?\nCAP If it had teeth, it'd bite her.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "It is in plain sight; one should be able to see it for oneself."
      ],
      "id": "en-if_it_had_teeth,_it'd_bite_one-en-phrase-SYuRD2gP",
      "links": [
        [
          "humorous",
          "humorous"
        ],
        [
          "in plain sight",
          "in plain sight"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(US, colloquial, humorous) It is in plain sight; one should be able to see it for oneself."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US",
        "colloquial",
        "humorous"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "if it had teeth, it'd bite one"
}
{
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "phrase"
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      "expansion": "if it had teeth, it'd bite one",
      "name": "head"
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  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "phrase",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "American English",
        "English colloquialisms",
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English humorous terms",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English phrases",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "Pages with 1 entry",
        "Pages with entries",
        "Quotation templates to be cleaned"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1942, Albert Hackett, Frances Goodrich, Western Union, Please: A Comedy in Three Acts, page 5:",
          "text": "ALICE. Where's the sugar, Mother?\nJENNIE. Right under your nose. If it had teeth, it'd bite you.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1994, Lawrence Sanders, Three Complete Novels, page 354:",
          "text": "Maybe there was a gross flaw, so obvious that they were all missing it, just as Mario sometimes said, \"Where's the dried oregano?\" when the jar was in plain view on the countertop. Then Dora would say, \"If it had teeth, it'd bite you.\"",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2008, Barbara Parisi, The Best American Short Plays, 2004-2005, page 270:",
          "text": "LETTY (Quite suddenly younger, timid.) Ma says to pass the salt, Pa.\nCAP (Deep voiced, strong, harsh.) You can tell her it's over there.\nLETTY She says where, Pa?\nCAP If it had teeth, it'd bite her.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "It is in plain sight; one should be able to see it for oneself."
      ],
      "links": [
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          "humorous",
          "humorous"
        ],
        [
          "in plain sight",
          "in plain sight"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(US, colloquial, humorous) It is in plain sight; one should be able to see it for oneself."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US",
        "colloquial",
        "humorous"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "if it had teeth, it'd bite one"
}

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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-01-06 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-01-01 using wiktextract (f889f65 and 8fbd9e8). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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