Dictionary of Phrase and Fable—C

Colt's-tooth

The love of youthful pleasure. Chaucer uses the word “coltish” for skittish. Horses have at three years old the colt's-tooth. The allusion is to the colt's teeth of animals, a period of their life when their passions are strongest.

Her merry dancing-days are done;
She has a colt's-tooth still, I warrant.

King: Orpheus and Eurydice

Well said, Lord Sands;
Your colt's-tooth is not cast yet.

Shakespeare: Henry VIII., 1.3.

Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
Columbine
Colt's Revolver
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