Tongue

/tʌŋ/ name, noun, verb, slang

name, noun, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level

Meaning at a glance

  • Primary sense: 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.
  • Grammar: tongue is listed as name, noun, verb, slang.
  • Nearest alternatives: abatis, aftertaste, alveolar ridge, alveolus.
  • Useful contrasts: avoid, gap, ignore.
  • Usage evidence: You've got to learn to hold your tongue.

How to use "tongue"

  1. Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
  2. Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "tongue" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
  3. Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.

Meaning check

  • Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
  • Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
  • Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
  • Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?

Source and review context

This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "tongue" in a final draft.

If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.

Before you rely on this definition

Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "tongue" as the right word for your sentence.

If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "tongue" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.

Compare nearby meanings

  • Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
  • Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
  • Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
  • Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.

Definition decision workflow

1. Identify the role

Check whether "tongue" is acting as name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.

2. Test the nearest option

Compare it with "abatis" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.

3. Confirm with context

Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.

Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.

Final meaning check

Before publishing a sentence with "tongue", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.

When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.

Definitions

Noun
  1. 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. 2
    metal striker that hangs inside a bell and makes a sound by hitting the side wordnet
  3. 3
    Such an organ, as taken from animals and used for food (especially from cows). countable, uncountable

    "cold tongue with mustard"

  4. 4
    the flap of material under the laces of a shoe or boot wordnet
  5. 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
  1. 6
    a mobile mass of muscular tissue covered with mucous membrane and located in the oral cavity wordnet
  2. 7
    A language. countable, metonymically, uncountable

    "He was speaking in his native tongue."

  3. 8
    a human written or spoken language used by a community; opposed to e.g. a computer language wordnet
  4. 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."

  5. 10
    a manner of speaking wordnet
  6. 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."

  7. 12
    the tongue of certain animals used as meat wordnet
  8. 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?"

  9. 14
    a narrow strip of land that juts out into the sea wordnet
  10. 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."

  11. 16
    any long thin projection that is transient wordnet
  12. 17
    The power of articulate utterance; speech generally. countable, uncountable

    "Parrots imitating Human Tongue"

  13. 18
    Discourse; the fluency of speech or expression. countable, obsolete, uncountable
  14. 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."

  15. 20
    Honorable discourse; eulogy. countable, obsolete, uncountable

    "She was born noble; let that title find her A private grave, but neither tongue nor honour!"

  16. 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."

  17. 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."

  18. 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
  19. 24
    A projection, or slender appendage or fixture. countable, uncountable

    "the tongue of a buckle, or of a balance"

  20. 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."

  21. 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."

  22. 27
    The clapper of a bell. countable, uncountable

    "The iron tongue of midnight hath told twelve:"

  23. 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."

  24. 29
    A small sole (type of fish). countable, uncountable
  25. 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
  26. 31
    A reed. countable, uncountable
  27. 32
    A division of formation; A layer or member of a formation that pinches out in one direction. countable, uncountable
  28. 33
    The middle protrusion of a triple-tailed flag. countable, uncountable
Verb
  1. 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. 2
    lick or explore with the tongue wordnet
  3. 3
    To manipulate with the tongue. transitive

    "[T]he cattle tongued at the damp grass, licking rather than grazing. […]"

  4. 4
    articulate by tonguing, as when playing wind instruments wordnet
  5. 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
  1. 6
    To protrude in relatively long, narrow sections.

    "a soil horizon that tongues into clay"

  2. 7
    To join by means of a tongue and groove.

    "to tongue boards together"

  3. 8
    To talk; to prate. intransitive, obsolete
  4. 9
    To speak; to utter. obsolete, transitive

    "’Tis still a dream, or else such stuff as madmen Tongue and brain not;"

  5. 10
    To chide; to scold. obsolete, transitive

    "How might she tongue me!"

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A village by the Kyle of Tongue in Sutherland, Highland council area, Scotland (OS grid ref NC5956). countable, uncountable
  2. 2
    A surname. countable, uncountable

Synonyms

All synonyms
abatisaftertastealveolar ridgealveolusapexargot

Antonyms

avoidgapignorenonverbal communication

Example

"You've got to learn to hold your tongue."

Common questions

What does "tongue" mean?

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.

What is a synonym for "tongue"?

Common synonyms include: abatis, aftertaste, alveolar ridge, alveolus, apex, argot.

How do you use "tongue" in a sentence?

You've got to learn to hold your tongue.

How do you pronounce "tongue"?

Pronounced /tʌŋ/.

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”).

More for "tongue"

Synonyms

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