An eyetooth is one of your pointed canine teeth, located in the upper part of your jaw. These teeth got their name because their roots sit close to your eyes in your skull.

You have four canine teeth total: two on top and two on bottom. The upper ones are often called eyeteeth. They're the slightly sharp, pointed teeth between your front teeth and your back molars. If you run your tongue along your teeth, you can feel how they come to more of a point than your other teeth. These teeth are built for tearing food, which is why they're sharper than your flat grinding molars or your cutting front incisors.

The phrase “give your eyeteeth” means you would sacrifice something precious to get what you want. If someone says “I'd give my eyeteeth to meet my favorite author,” they mean they want it desperately. The expression works because losing those prominent teeth would be a real sacrifice: they're right where people can see them when you smile.

Interestingly, babies don't get their upper canine teeth until they're older toddlers, usually between 16 and 23 months old, which makes them some of the last baby teeth to appear.