Heavily armed. Fig.: over equipped and prepared

You must be very careful in some areas of many major American cities because youth gangs are armed to the teeth and will attack anybody just for being there

In certe zone di molte metropoli americane bisogna stare molto attenti, perché ci sono bande giovanili armate fino ai denti che attaccano chiunque passi di là

The tourists got out of the coach, armed to the teeth with cameras, binoculars, and guidebooks

I turisti sono scesi dal bus armati fino ai denti con machine fotografiche, binocoli e guide

One theory says that this is a pirate phrase originating in Port Royal, Jamaica, in the 1600s. Having only single-shot black-powder weapons and knives, the pirates would carry many of these weapons at once to keep up the fight. According to others, it dates back to the XIV century, referring to weapons used in battle. It was popularized by the English statesman Richard Cobden who, in 1849 in a speech against excessive expenditures on armaments, said: “Is there any reason why we should be armed to the teeth?”