to have done something since one was very young; to have much experience at something. (Folksy.) • Do I know about cars? I cut my eyeteeth on cars. • I cut my eyeteeth on Bach. I can whistle everything he wrote.
give one's eyeteeth Also, give one's right arm. Go to any lengths to obtain, as in She'd give her eyeteeth for a mink coat, or He'd give his right arm for a new car. These hyperbolic expressions both allude to something precious, the eyeteeth (or canines) being useful for both biting and chewing and the right arm a virtual necessity for the 90 percent of the population who are right-handed. Both date from the first half of the 1900s, when the first replaced give one's eyes, from the mid-1800s.
An eyeteeth idiom dictionary is a great resource for writers, students, and anyone looking to expand their vocabulary. It contains a list of words with similar meanings with eyeteeth, allowing users to choose the best word for their specific context.
Dictionary of similar words, Different wording, Synonyms, Idioms for Idiom, Proverb eyeteeth