eyetooth \AHY-tooth\,
noun:
1. Dentistry. a canine tooth of the upper jaw: so named from its position under the eye.
idiom:
1. cut one's eyeteeth, a. to gain sophistication or experience; become worldly-wise. b. Also, cut one's eyeteeth on. to be initiated or gain one's first experience in (a career, hobby, skill, etc.).
2. give one's eyeteeth, to give something one considers very precious, usually in exchange for an object or situation one desires: She would give her eyeteeth for that job.
Arn Debs wears a bridge from eyetooth to eyetooth.
-- Martin Amis, "Night Train," 2011
It is true that a handful of writers have cut their eyeteeth on newspapers and then gone on to larger business, but they are exceptions to an inflexible rule.
-- Ring Lardner, Introduction by Jonathan Yardley, "Introduction," Selected Stories, 1997
Eyetooth came to English in the late 1500s as a blend of eye and tooth. This tooth received its name because of its position beneath or next to the eye.
Dictionary.com
