phrase

• Rather old.

  ‘His gaggle of girlfriends all seem suspiciously long in the tooth to qualify as high-school students.’

  More example sentences

  • ‘‘I felt we were getting a bit long in the tooth,’ he said.’
  • ‘I'm only 29 so I hope that doesn't make me long in the tooth, I started driving a logging truck when I was 17.’
  • ‘I'm too long in the tooth and I'm too old to be bluffed.’
  • ‘After a career in building he decided he was too long in the tooth and looked to something more gentle - funeral directory.’
  • ‘He assures me he is far too long in the tooth to compete against the current world title holders, who nowadays are in their teens.’
  • ‘I think I am too long in the tooth to start adopting the dress down policy of many of today's businesses.’
  • ‘I'm a bit too long in the tooth to get too worked up about these things any more.’
  • ‘My old home computer was getting a little long in the tooth, so I decided it was time to upgrade to a speedy new machine.’
  • ‘But the car was looking increasingly long in the tooth, despite continuous design improvements.’

  Origin

  Originally said of horses, from the receding of the gums with age.