UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament

Sense 1: to grind the teeth, to gnash the teeth, gnashing of teeth

Semantic entry: 23.41

Semantic domains: Physiological Processes and States

Subdomains: Processes Involving the Mouth, Other Than Eating and Drinking

Definition: the grinding or the gnashing of the teeth, whether involuntary as in the case of certain illnesses, or as an expression of an emotion such as anger or of pain and suffering

Notes: In translating ‘they ground their teeth at him’ (OET ACT 7:54) it may be necessary to indicate the type of emotion which is involved in such an action, for example, ‘in anger they ground their teeth at him’ or ‘they showed their anger by grinding their teeth.’ It is essential to avoid an expression such as ‘to grit the teeth,’ which in English is a symbol of determination, not of anger.

Sense 2: to be furious

Semantic entry: 88.184

Semantic domains: Moral and Ethical Qualities and Related Behavior

Subdomains: Anger, Be Indignant With

Definition: (an idiom, literally: to grind one’s teeth) to express and manifest intense anger

Notes: As noted in 23.41: βρυγμός / 23.41: βρύχω / 23.41: τρίζω, it is possible to understand the expression βρύχω τοὺς ὀδόντας in both a literal as well as a figurative sense. The persons may very well have ‘ground their teeth’ as a sign of their anger and fury, so that a statement about what such persons did could be true in a literal as well as in a figurative sense.

Collocations: βρύχω τοὺς ὀδόντας