clean as a hound's tooth

adj

"clean-as-a-hound-s-tooth" is a 19-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“clean as a hound's tooth” is outside the top-ranked English vocabulary, used as an adjective - the kind of word writers most often double-check.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
24
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Very clean.

Key facts for clean as a hound's tooth
PropertyValue
Headwordclean as a hound's tooth
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
Letters24
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “clean as a hound's tooth” sits in English frequency

clean as a hound's tooth falls outside the top-100,000 ranked English words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for clean as a hound's tooth is 24 letters long, classified as an adjective. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for clean as a hound's tooth, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct English form is clean as a hound's tooth, spelled C-L-E-A-N- -A-S- -A- -H-O-U-N-D-'-S- -T-O-O-T-H.

Definition

  1. 1
    Very clean.
  2. 2
    Very innocent.

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "clean as a hound's tooth"?
"clean as a hound's tooth" is spelled C-L-E-A-N- -A-S- -A- -H-O-U-N-D-'-S- -T-O-O-T-H.
What does "clean as a hound's tooth" mean?
As an adjective, "clean as a hound's tooth" means: Very clean.
What language does "clean as a hound's tooth" come from?
"clean as a hound's tooth" is a English word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “clean as a hound's tooth”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is C-L-E-A-N- -A-S- -A- -H-O-U-N-D-'-S- -T-O-O-T-H - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list