teething troubles
Syllables: teeth·ing trou·blesUK/ˈtiːðɪŋ ˈtɹʌb(ə)lz/US/ˈtiðɪŋ ˈtɹʌb(ə)lz/
teething troubles noun: problems that are to be expected with any new and untried product, system, or venture.
Noun
teething troubles pl (plural only)
- Problems that are to be expected with any new and untried product, system, or venture.
- No doubt the new form of drive will have its teething troubles and this may be expected; but even if each ship manages to unload one cargo where it is badly needed and then it is beached, mechanical troubles will be comparatively unimportant provided all the crew are safe.1941 October, “Novel Armed Freighter Adopted by Navy”, in T. Orchard Lisle, editor, The Log, volume 36, number 13, San Francisco, Calif.: Miller Freeman, Inc., →OCLC, page 58, column 1
- But we think that, for something which is so new, it is far better and easier for them to recoup if it is only a 16,000 run. If it is up in the millions it is a bigger problem, and it is far better to get your teething troubles out of the way on a smaller one.1961 October 16, R. Emerick, “Mr. R. Emerick, Mr. S. Clegg, Mr. T. Warburton, on Behalf of the Amalgamated Society of Lithographic Printers”, in Royal Commission on the Press: Minutes of Oral...
- Synonyms:
- teething issues, teething problems
Examples of teething troubles in a sentence
- He admitted that in their early days these units suffered a number of teething troubles, which, he said, "one may now look back upon with some wonder", as their causes were not hard to find.1961 November, “Talking of Trains: Diesel performance improving”, in Trains Illustrated, page 642:
- They have survived four nights in the forest, and after a few teething troubles they are getting on surprisingly well.2015, Paula Lichtarowicz, “The Nice New Brotherhood and Sisterhood of Ape-ish Folk”, in Creative Truths in Provincial Policing, paperback...
- He knew there would be some, they had recently installed a new casting system that he had helped to develop, and the plant back home had experienced some teething troubles.2015, Liz Vincent, chapter 14, in Meddling Mother Madge + Dutiful Daughter Alice = Malice, Kibworth Beauchamp, Leicestershire: Matador...
- Teething troubles with software forced the brief return of the old Class 507/508 stock at the beginning of March, but the issues are understood to have been quickly resolved.2023 March 22, “Network News: New Class 777s make inroads on Merseyside”, in RAIL, number 979, page 12:
Synonyms of teething troubles
Origin of teething troubles
A reference to teething (“the eruption, through the gums, of the milk teeth”) and the accompanying discomfort, which occur during early life.
Questions about teething troubles
- What does teething troubles mean?
- Teething troubles means problems that are to be expected with any new and untried product, system, or venture.
- How do you use teething troubles in a sentence?
- He admitted that in their early days these units suffered a number of teething troubles, which, he said, "one may now look back upon with some wonder", as their causes were not hard to find.
- What part of speech is teething troubles?
- Teething troubles is a noun.
- How do you pronounce teething troubles?
- Teething troubles is pronounced /ˈtiːðɪŋ ˈtɹʌb(ə)lz/ (UK).
Words near teething troubles in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: teething troubles (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-au-teething troubles.ogg.
Cite this entry: “teething troubles.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/teething_troubles. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.