Refine this word faster
Tongue
Definitions
- 1 A village by the Kyle of Tongue in Sutherland, Highland council area, Scotland (OS grid ref NC5956). countable, uncountable
- 2 A surname. countable, uncountable
- 1 The flexible muscular organ in the mouth that is used to move food around, for tasting and that is moved into various positions to modify the flow of air from the lungs in order to produce different sounds in speech. countable, uncountable
"But lering and lurking here and there like ſpies,"
- 2 metal striker that hangs inside a bell and makes a sound by hitting the side wordnet
- 3 Such an organ, as taken from animals and used for food (especially from cows). countable, uncountable
"cold tongue with mustard"
- 4 the flap of material under the laces of a shoe or boot wordnet
- 5 Any similar organ, such as the lingual ribbon, or odontophore, of a mollusk; the proboscis of a moth or butterfly; or the lingua of an insect. countable, uncountable
Show 28 more definitions
- 6 a mobile mass of muscular tissue covered with mucous membrane and located in the oral cavity wordnet
- 7 A language. countable, metonymically, uncountable
"He was speaking in his native tongue."
- 8 a human written or spoken language used by a community; opposed to e.g. a computer language wordnet
- 9 The speakers of a language, collectively. countable, obsolete, uncountable
"I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come, and see my glory."
- 10 a manner of speaking wordnet
- 11 A voice, (the distinctive sound of a person's speech); accent (distinctive manner of pronouncing a language). countable, obsolete, uncountable
"Who are you? Tell me, for more certainty, Albeit I’ll swear that I do know your tongue."
- 12 the tongue of certain animals used as meat wordnet
- 13 A manner of speaking, often habitually. countable, uncountable
"Al maters wel pondred and wel to be regarded, How ſhuld a fals lying tung then be rewarded?"
- 14 a narrow strip of land that juts out into the sea wordnet
- 15 A person speaking in a specified manner. countable, plural-normally, uncountable
"I know that we must keep apart for a long while; cruel tongues would force us apart, if nothing else did."
- 16 any long thin projection that is transient wordnet
- 17 The power of articulate utterance; speech generally. countable, uncountable
"Parrots imitating Human Tongue"
- 18 Discourse; the fluency of speech or expression. countable, obsolete, uncountable
- 19 Discourse; fluency of speech or expression. obsolete, uncountable
"[...] fellows, soldiers, friends, Better consider what you have to do Than I, that have not well the gift of tongue, Can lift your blood up with persuasion."
- 20 Honorable discourse; eulogy. countable, obsolete, uncountable
"She was born noble; let that title find her A private grave, but neither tongue nor honour!"
- 21 Glossolalia. countable, in-plural, often, uncountable
"Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away."
- 22 In a shoe, the flap of material that goes between the laces and the foot (so called because it resembles a tongue in the mouth). countable, uncountable
"I caught a glimpse of a brown boot, the tongue flapping, the sole tied on with string."
- 23 Any large or long physical protrusion on an automotive or machine part or any other part that fits into a long groove on another part. countable, uncountable
- 24 A projection, or slender appendage or fixture. countable, uncountable
"the tongue of a buckle, or of a balance"
- 25 A long, narrow strip of land, projecting from the mainland into a sea or lake. countable, uncountable
"On one side was a coral reef; on the other a low tongue of land, covered with mangrove thickets that grew out into the water."
- 26 The pole of a towed or drawn vehicle or farm implement (e.g., trailer, cart, plow, harrow), by which it is pulled; for example, the pole of an ox cart, to the end of which the oxen are yoked. countable, uncountable
"Far to the right, where the main pile sloped out, his cart reared tongue upward, like a plow."
- 27 The clapper of a bell. countable, uncountable
"The iron tongue of midnight hath told twelve:"
- 28 An individual point of flame from a fire. countable, figuratively, uncountable
"Then up a steep and dark and narrow stair We wound, until the torches’ fiery tongue Amid the gushing day beamless and pallid hung."
- 29 A small sole (type of fish). countable, uncountable
- 30 A short piece of rope spliced into the upper part of standing backstays, etc.; also, the upper main piece of a mast composed of several pieces. countable, uncountable
- 31 A reed. countable, uncountable
- 32 A division of formation; A layer or member of a formation that pinches out in one direction. countable, uncountable
- 33 The middle protrusion of a triple-tailed flag. countable, uncountable
- 1 On a wind instrument, to articulate a note by starting the air with a tap of the tongue, as though by speaking a 'd' or 't' sound (alveolar plosive). ambitransitive
"Playing wind instruments involves tonguing on the reed or mouthpiece."
- 2 lick or explore with the tongue wordnet
- 3 To manipulate with the tongue. transitive
"[T]he cattle tongued at the damp grass, licking rather than grazing. […]"
- 4 articulate by tonguing, as when playing wind instruments wordnet
- 5 To manipulate with the tongue.; To lick, penetrate or manipulate with the tongue during flirting or oral sex. slang, transitive, vulgar
"Hot I tongued her. She kissed me. I was kissed. All yielding she tossed my hair. Kissed, she kissed me."
Show 5 more definitions
- 6 To protrude in relatively long, narrow sections.
"a soil horizon that tongues into clay"
- 7 To join by means of a tongue and groove.
"to tongue boards together"
- 8 To talk; to prate. intransitive, obsolete
- 9 To speak; to utter. obsolete, transitive
"’Tis still a dream, or else such stuff as madmen Tongue and brain not;"
- 10 To chide; to scold. obsolete, transitive
"How might she tongue me!"
Etymology
From Middle English tongue, a late spelling of tong(e), tung(e), from Old English tunge, from Proto-West Germanic *tungā, from Proto-Germanic *tungǭ, from Proto-Indo-European *dn̥ǵʰwéh₂s (“tongue”). Doublet of language and lingua. Cognates include Dutch tong, German Zunge, Swedish tunga, Gothic 𐍄𐌿𐌲𐌲𐍉 (tuggō), and further Irish teanga, Latin lingua, Russian язык (jazyk), Persian زبان (zabân), etc. See the Indo-European entry for more. The expected modern spelling, both phonetically and etymologically, would be tung. Using ⟨on⟩ for ⟨un⟩ was fairly common in Middle English, compare e.g. yong (“young”). The final ⟨gue⟩ arose to prevent tonge being misread with a soft /dʒ/. However, this spelling only became common at a time when the final ⟨e⟩ was already largely silent, so it is not clear why it was not simply dropped instead. Perhaps the spelling was influenced directly by French langue (“tongue”).
From Middle English tongue, a late spelling of tong(e), tung(e), from Old English tunge, from Proto-West Germanic *tungā, from Proto-Germanic *tungǭ, from Proto-Indo-European *dn̥ǵʰwéh₂s (“tongue”). Doublet of language and lingua. Cognates include Dutch tong, German Zunge, Swedish tunga, Gothic 𐍄𐌿𐌲𐌲𐍉 (tuggō), and further Irish teanga, Latin lingua, Russian язык (jazyk), Persian زبان (zabân), etc. See the Indo-European entry for more. The expected modern spelling, both phonetically and etymologically, would be tung. Using ⟨on⟩ for ⟨un⟩ was fairly common in Middle English, compare e.g. yong (“young”). The final ⟨gue⟩ arose to prevent tonge being misread with a soft /dʒ/. However, this spelling only became common at a time when the final ⟨e⟩ was already largely silent, so it is not clear why it was not simply dropped instead. Perhaps the spelling was influenced directly by French langue (“tongue”).
See also for "tongue"
Next best steps
Mini challenge
Unscramble this word: tongue