Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition


Tongue

Tongue

,
Noun.
[OE.
tunge
,
tonge
, AS.
tunge
; akin to OFries.
tunge
, D.
tong
, OS.
tunga
, G.
zunge
, OHG.
zunga
, Icel. & Sw.
tunga
, Dan
tunge
, Goth.
tuggō
, OL.
dingua
, L.
lingua
. √243 Cf.
Language
,
Lingo
. ]
1.
(Anat.)
an organ situated in the floor of the mouth of most vertebrates and connected with the hyoid arch.
☞ The tongue is usually muscular, mobile, and free at one extremity, and in man other mammals is the principal organ of taste, aids in the prehension of food, in swallowing, and in modifying the voice as in speech.
To make his English sweet upon his
tongue
.
Chaucer.
2.
The power of articulate utterance; speech.
Parrots imitating human
tongue
.
Dryden.
3.
Discourse; fluency of speech or expression.
Much
tongue
and much judgment seldom go together.
L. Estrange.
4.
Honorable discourse; eulogy.
[Obs.]
She was born noble; let that title find her a private grave, but neither
tongue
nor honor.
Beau. & Fl.
5.
A language; the whole sum of words used by a particular nation;
as, the English
tongue
.
Chaucer.
Whose
tongue
thou shalt not understand.
Deut. xxviii. 49.
To speak all
tongues
.
Milton.
6.
Speech; words or declarations only; – opposed to thoughts or actions.
My little children, let us love in word, neither in
tongue
, but in deed and in truth.
1 John iii. 18.
7.
A people having a distinct language.
A will gather all nations and
tongues
.
Isa. lxvi. 18.
8.
(Zool.)
(a)
The lingual ribbon, or odontophore, of a mollusk.
(b)
The proboscis of a moth or a butterfly.
(c)
The lingua of an insect.
9.
(Zool.)
Any small sole.
10.
That which is considered as resembing an animal’s tongue, in position or form.
Specifically: –
(a)
A projection, or slender appendage or fixture; as, the tongue of a buckle, or of a balance.
(b)
A projection on the side, as of a board, which fits into a groove.
(c)
A point, or long, narrow strip of land, projecting from the mainland into a sea or a lake.
(d)
The pole of a vehicle; especially, the pole of an ox cart, to the end of which the oxen are yoked.
(e)
The clapper of a bell.
(f)
(Naut.)
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.
(g)
(Mus.)
Same as
Reed
,
Noun.
, 5.
To hold the tongue
,
to be silent.
Tongue bone
(Anat.)
,
the hyoid bone.
Tongue grafting
.
See under
Grafting
.
Syn. – Language; speech; expression. See
Language
.

Tongue

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Tongued
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Tonguing
.]
1.
To speak; to utter.
“Such stuff as madmen tongue.”
Shak.
2.
To chide; to scold.
How might she
tongue
me.
Shakespeare
3.
(Mus.)
To modulate or modify with the tongue, as notes, in playing the flute and some other wind instruments.
4.
To join means of a tongue and grove;
as, to
tongue
boards together
.

Tongue

,
Verb.
I.
1.
To talk; to prate.
Dryden.
2.
(Mus.)
To use the tongue in forming the notes, as in playing the flute and some other wind instruments.

Webster 1828 Edition


Tongue

TONGUE


Definition 2024


tongue

tongue

English

A human tongue.

Alternative forms

  • tounge (obsolete, now considered a misspelling); tung (informal/eye dialect); tong, tonge, toong, toongue, toung, toungue, tunge (obsolete)

Noun

tongue (plural tongues)

  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.
  2. 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.
  3. A language.
    He was speaking in his native tongue.
    The poem was written in her native tongue.
  4. The power of articulate utterance; speech generally.
    • Dryden
      parrots imitating human tongue
  5. (obsolete) Discourse; fluency of speech or expression.
    • L'Estrange
      Much tongue and much judgment seldom go together.
  6. (obsolete) Honourable discourse; eulogy.
    • Beaumont and Fletcher
      She was born noble; let that title find her a private grave, but neither tongue nor honour.
  7. (religion, often in the plural) Glossolalia.
  8. 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.
  9. 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.
  10. A projection, or slender appendage or fixture.
    the tongue of a buckle, or of a balance
  11. A long, narrow strip of land, projecting from the mainland into a sea or lake.
  12. The pole of a vehicle; especially, the pole of an ox cart, to the end of which the oxen are yoked.
  13. The clapper of a bell.
  14. (figuratively) An individual point of flame from a fire.
    • 1895, H. G. Wells, The Time Machine Chapter XI
      Now, in this decadent age the art of fire-making had been altogether forgotten on the earth. The red tongues that went licking up my heap of wood were an altogether new and strange thing to Weena.
  15. A small sole (type of fish).
  16. (nautical) 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.
  17. (music) A reed.

Synonyms

Translations

References

Verb

tongue (third-person singular simple present tongues, present participle tonguing, simple past and past participle tongued)

  1. (music, transitive, intransitive) 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).
    Playing wind instruments involves tonguing on the reed or mouthpiece.
  2. (slang) To manipulate with the tongue, as in kissing or oral sex.
  3. To protrude in relatively long, narrow sections.
    a soil horizon that tongues into clay
  4. To join by means of a tongue and groove.
    to tongue boards together
  5. (intransitive, obsolete) To talk; to prate.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Dryden to this entry?)
  6. (transitive, obsolete) To speak; to utter.
    • Shakespeare
      such stuff as madmen tongue
  7. (transitive, obsolete) To chide; to scold.
    • Shakespeare
      How might she tongue me.

Derived terms

Anagrams