Emily Dickinson Lexicon

DENT'AL, n.

1. An articulation or letter formed by placing the end of the tongue against the upper teeth, or against the gum that covers the root of the upper teeth, as D, T, and Th.
2. A genus of shell-fish, Dentalium, of several species. The shell consists of one tubulous straight valve, open at both ends. – Encyc.