set one's teeth on edge
set (one's) teeth on edge
1. To greatly irritate or annoy one, especially to the point of affecting one's nerves. Nothing sets my teeth on edge like seeing these cyclists run every red light in town! I don't know what it is about Terry, but there's something about his demeanor that just sets my teeth on edge.
2. To cause one to be upset, nervous, or uncomfortable. Please don't tell me about your surgery, it sets my teeth on edge hearing about medical procedures.
See also: edge, on, set, teeth
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
set one's teeth on edge
Irritate, annoy, make one cringe, as in That raucous laugh sets my teeth on edge. This expression alludes to the shuddering feeling evoked by a grating noise or similar irritation. It appears in several books of the Bible and was also used by Shakespeare. [c. 1600]
See also: edge, on, set, teeth
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
set one's teeth on edge, to
To irritate or annoy intensely. This image evokes the intense shuddering feeling that comes from biting on a piece of tinfoil or hearing a fingernail scratch on a chalkboard. It appears in several books of the Bible (Jeremiah 31:29; Ezekiel 18:2) and, graphically, in Shakespeare’s Henry VI, Part 1: “I had rather hear a brazen canstick turn’d, Or a dry wheel grate on the axle-tree, And that would set my teeth nothing on edge, Nothing so much as mincing poetry.”
See also: on, set, teeth
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
- put (one's) teeth on edge
- make (one's) teeth itch
- grind (someone's) gears
- drive (one) crazy
- drive crazy
- drive someone crazy
- drive (someone) buggy
- raise (one's) hackles
- raise one's hackles
- raise someone's hackles