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tongue

   Also found in: Medical, Acronyms, Idioms, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.01 sec.
tongue  (tng)
n.
1.
a. The fleshy, movable, muscular organ, attached in most vertebrates to the floor of the mouth, that is the principal organ of taste, an aid in chewing and swallowing, and, in humans, an important organ of speech.
b. An analogous organ or part in invertebrate animals, as in certain insects or mollusks.
2. The tongue of an animal, such as a cow, used as food.
3. A spoken language or dialect.
4.
a. Speech; talk: If there is goodness in your heart, it will come to your tongue.
b. The act or power of speaking: She had no tongue to answer.
c. tongues Speech or vocal sounds produced in a state of religious ecstasy.
d. Style or quality of utterance: her sharp tongue.
5. The bark or baying of a hunting dog that sees game: The dog gave tongue when the fox came through the hedge.
6. Something resembling a tongue in shape or function, as:
a. The vibrating end of a reed in a wind instrument.
b. A flame.
c. The flap of material under the laces or buckles of a shoe.
d. A spit of land; a promontory.
e. A bell clapper.
f. The harnessing pole attached to the front axle of a horse-drawn vehicle.
7. A protruding strip along the edge of a board that fits into a matching groove on the edge of another board.
v. tongued, tongu·ing, tongues
v.tr.
1. Music To separate or articulate (notes played on a brass or wind instrument) by shutting off the stream of air with the tongue.
2. To touch or lick with the tongue.
3.
a. To provide (a board) with a tongue.
b. To join by means of a tongue and groove.
4. Archaic To scold.
v.intr.
1. Music To articulate notes on a brass or wind instrument.
2. To project: a spit of land tonguing into the bay.
Idioms:
hold (one's) tongue
To be or keep silent.
lose (one's) tongue
To lose the capacity to speak, as from shock.
on the tip of (one's) tongue
On the verge of being recalled or expressed.
have/speak with a forked tongue
To speak deceitfully; prevaricate or lie.

[Middle English, from Old English tunge; see dgh- in Indo-European roots.]

tongue
Noun
1. a movable mass of muscular tissue attached to the floor of the mouth, used for tasting, eating, and speaking
2. a language, dialect, or idiom: the Scots tongue
3. the ability to speak: taken aback, she could not find her tongue
4. a manner of speaking: a sharp tongue
5. the tongue of certain animals used as food
6. a narrow strip of something that extends outwards: a narrow tongue of flame
7. a flap of leather on a shoe
8. the clapper of a bell
9. a projecting strip along an edge of a board that is made to fit a groove in another board
10. hold one's tongue to keep quiet
11. on the tip of one's tongue about to come to mind
12. with (one's) tongue in one's cheek with insincere or ironical intent [Old English tunge]

tongue  (tng)
1. A muscular organ in most vertebrates that is usually attached to the bottom of the mouth. In snakes, the tongue is used as a sense organ. In frogs, the tongue is chiefly used to capture prey. In mammals, the tongue is the main organ of taste and is an important organ of digestion. In humans, the tongue is used to produce speech.
2. A similar organ in certain invertebrate animals.
ThesaurusLegend:  Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Noun1.tonguetongue - a mobile mass of muscular tissue covered with mucous membrane and located in the oral cavity
organ - a fully differentiated structural and functional unit in an animal that is specialized for some particular function
articulator - a movable speech organ
mouth, oral cavity, oral fissure, rima oris - the opening through which food is taken in and vocalizations emerge; "he stuffed his mouth with candy"
gustatory organ, taste bud, tastebud - an oval sensory end organ on the surface of the tongue
pharynx, throat - the passage to the stomach and lungs; in the front part of the neck below the chin and above the collarbone
2.tonguetongue - a human written or spoken language used by a community; opposed to e.g. a computer language
language, linguistic communication - a systematic means of communicating by the use of sounds or conventional symbols; "he taught foreign languages"; "the language introduced is standard throughout the text"; "the speed with which a program can be executed depends on the language in which it is written"
first language, maternal language, mother tongue - one's native language; the language learned by children and passed from one generation to the next
tonal language, tone language - a language in which different tones distinguish different meanings
creole - a mother tongue that originates from contact between two languages
American-Indian language, Amerind, Amerindian language, American Indian, Indian - any of the languages spoken by Amerindians
Eskimo-Aleut, Eskimo-Aleut language - the family of languages that includes Eskimo and Aleut
Chukchi language, Chukchi - an indigenous and isolated language of unknown origin spoken by the Chukchi that is pronounced differently by men and women
Sino-Tibetan, Sino-Tibetan language - the family of tonal languages spoken in eastern Asia
Austro-Asiatic, Austro-Asiatic language, Munda-Mon-Khmer - a family of languages spoken in southern and southeastern Asia
Hmong language, Miao, Hmong - a language of uncertain affiliation spoken by the Hmong
Austronesian language, Austronesian - the family of languages spoken in Australia and Formosa and Malaysia and Polynesia
Papuan language, Papuan - any of the indigenous languages spoken in Papua New Guinea or New Britain or the Solomon Islands that are not Malayo-Polynesian languages
Khoisan, Khoisan language - a family of languages spoken in southern Africa
Indo-European language, Indo-Hittite, Indo-European - the family of languages that by 1000 BC were spoken throughout Europe and in parts of southwestern and southern Asia
Ural-Altaic - a (postulated) group of languages including many of the indigenous languages of Russia (but not Russian)
Basque - the language of the Basque people; of no known relation to any other language
Elamitic, Susian, Elamite - an extinct ancient language of unknown affinities; spoken by the Elamites
Cassite, Kassite - an ancient language spoken by the Kassites
Caucasian language, Caucasian - a number of languages spoken in the Caucasus that are unrelated to languages spoken elsewhere
Dravidian language, Dravidic, Dravidian - a large family of languages spoken in south and central India and Sri Lanka
Afrasian, Afrasian language, Afro-Asiatic, Afroasiatic, Afroasiatic language, Hamito-Semitic - a large family of related languages spoken both in Asia and Africa
Niger-Kordofanian, Niger-Kordofanian language - the family of languages that includes most of the languages spoken in Africa south of the Sahara; the majority of them are tonal languages but there are important exceptions (e.g., Swahili or Fula)
Nilo-Saharan, Nilo-Saharan language - a family of East African languages spoken by Nilotic peoples from the Sahara south to Kenya and Tanzania
3.tonguetongue - any long thin projection that is transient; "tongues of flame licked at the walls"; "rifles exploded quick knives of fire into the dark"
projection - any solid convex shape that juts out from something
4.tonguetongue - a manner of speaking; "he spoke with a thick tongue"; "she has a glib tongue"
manner of speaking, delivery, speech - your characteristic style or manner of expressing yourself orally; "his manner of speaking was quite abrupt"; "her speech was barren of southernisms"; "I detected a slight accent in his speech"
sharp tongue - a bitter or critical manner of speaking
5.tonguetongue - a narrow strip of land that juts out into the sea
cape, ness - a strip of land projecting into a body of water
sand - a loose material consisting of grains of rock or coral
6.tonguetongue - the tongue of certain animals used as meat
organs, variety meat - edible viscera of a butchered animal
beef tongue - the tongue of a cow eaten as meat
calf's tongue - the tongue of a calf eaten as meat
7.tonguetongue - the flap of material under the laces of a shoe or boot
boot - footwear that covers the whole foot and lower leg
flap - any broad thin and limber covering attached at one edge; hangs loose or projects freely; "he wrote on the flap of the envelope"
shoe - footwear shaped to fit the foot (below the ankle) with a flexible upper of leather or plastic and a sole and heel of heavier material
8.tonguetongue - metal striker that hangs inside a bell and makes a sound by hitting the side
bell - a hollow device made of metal that makes a ringing sound when struck
striker - the part of a mechanical device that strikes something
Verb1.tonguetongue - articulate by tonguing, as when playing wind instruments
music - musical activity (singing or whistling etc.); "his music was his central interest"
music - (music) the sounds produced by singers or musical instruments (or reproductions of such sounds)
spiel, play - replay (as a melody); "Play it again, Sam"; "She played the third movement very beautifully"
double tongue, triple-tongue - play fast notes on a wind instrument
2.tonguetongue - lick or explore with the tongue      
lap, lick - pass the tongue over; "the dog licked her hand"

tongue
noun 2. utterance, voice, speech, articulation, verbal expression >> adjectives lingual
Translations

tongue [tʌŋ] nlengua;
tongue in cheek adven plan de broma
tongue [tʌŋ] nlangue f;
tongue in cheek advironiquement
tongue [tʌŋ] nZunge f;
(form) (language) → Sprache f;
tongue-in-cheek [speak, say] → ironisch
tongue [tʌŋ] nlingua;
tongue in cheek (fig) → ironicamente

tongue
n tongue [taŋ]
1 the fleshy organ inside the mouth, used in tasting, swallowing, speaking etc The doctor looked at her tongue.tongلِسانезикjazyktungedie Zungeγλώσσα (ανθρώπινο όργανο)lenguakeelزبانkielilangueלָשוֹןजीभjeziknyelvlidahtungalingualiežuvismēlelidahtongtungejęzyklíngualimbăязыкjazykjezikjeziktungaลิ้นdil舌頭язикزبان، جيبlưỡi
2 the tongue of an animal used as food. tongوَجْبَة طَعام: لِساناتезикjazyktungedie Zungeγλώσσα (ζώου)lenguakeelگوشت زبانkielilangueלָשוֹןबोलीjeziknyelvlidahtungalingua舌の肉(식용으로서의) 혓바닥 고기liežuvismēlelidahtongtungeozórlíngualimbăязыкjazykjezikjeziktungaลิ้นdil口條язикکسي جانور کي زبان جو کھانے ميں کام آئےlưỡi động vật...làm thức ăn
3 something with the same shape as a tongue a tongue of flame.tongشَيْء على شَكْل لِسانезикjazyktunge; -tungedie Zungeκτ. που έχει το σχήμα γλώσσαςlengua-keelزبانهlieskalangueלָשוֹןबहिर्विष्ट पट्टीjezičacnyelvlidah(eld)tungalingua舌形のもの혀 모양의 것liežuvismēlelidahtongtungejęzyk, jęzorlíngualimbăязы(чо)кjazykjezikjeziktungaสิ่งที่เหมือนลิ้นdil舌狀物язик полум'я; серце дзвона; язичок духового інструмента, черевикаزبان کي شکل کاcó hình cái lưỡi
4 a language English is his mother-tongue / native tongue; a foreign tongue.taalلُغَهезикjazyksprog; modersmåldie Spracheγλώσσα (που ομιλείται)lengua, idiomakeelزبانkielilangueלָשוֹןभाषा, किसी राष्ट्र आदि की भाषाjeziknyelvbahasatungumállingua言語언어kalbavalodabahasataalspråk, tungemåljęzyklíngualimbăязыкjazykjezikjezikspråk, tungomålภาษาdil, lisan方言,語言моваزبان، بوليmột ngôn ngữ

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You believe in a palace of crystal that can never be destroyed--a palace at which one will not be able to put out one's tongue or make a long nose on the sly.
Cathy is a sufficiently good little scholar, for her nine years; her mother taught her Spanish herself, and kept it always fresh upon her ear and her tongue by hardly ever speaking with her in any other tongue; her father was her English teacher, and talked with her in that language almost exclusively; French has been her everyday speech for more than seven years among her playmates here; she has a good working use of governess - German and Italian.
The Norman tongue was alone the speech in court and hall, Latin alone was the speech of the learned.
 
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