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Tongue   /təŋ/   Listen
noun
Tongue  n.  
1.
(Anat.) An organ situated in the floor of the mouth of most vertebrates and connected with the hyoid arch. Note: 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."
2.
The power of articulate utterance; speech. "Parrots imitating human tongue."
3.
Discourse; fluency of speech or expression. "Much tongue and much judgment seldom go together."
4.
Honorable discourse; eulogy. (Obs.) "She was born noble; let that title find her a private grave, but neither tongue nor honor."
5.
A language; the whole sum of words used by a particular nation; as, the English tongue. "Whose tongue thou shalt not understand." "To speak all tongues."
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."
7.
A people having a distinct language. "A will gather all nations and tongues."
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, n., 5.
To hold the tongue, to be silent.
Tongue bone (Anat.), the hyoid bone.
Tongue grafting. See under Grafting.
Synonyms: Language; speech; expression. See Language.


verb
Tongue  v. t.  (past & past part. tongued; pres. part. tonguing)  
1.
To speak; to utter. "Such stuff as madmen tongue."
2.
To chide; to scold. "How might she tongue me."
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  v. i.  
1.
To talk; to prate.
2.
(Mus.) To use the tongue in forming the notes, as in playing the flute and some other wind instruments.





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Tongue" Quotes from Famous Books



... and rose, warned by the glazed look in Susan's eyes. Susan was so far gone that she had difficulty in not staggering and did not dare speak lest her uncertain tongue should betray her. Maud walked her up and down the block several times to give the fresh air a chance, then led her up to a man who had looked at them in passing and had paused to look back. "Want to go have a good time, sweetheart?" said ...
— Susan Lenox: Her Fall and Rise • David Graham Phillips
... inextricably, as far as human power was concerned, surrounded with ice; and as the floe, acted upon by the pressure of bergs and ice driving before the gale, forced more and more upon the berg, we were glad to see the vessel rise up the inclined plane formed by the tongue of the iceberg under her bottom. Had she not done so, she must have sunk. Sending a portion of our crew to keep launching her boats ahead during the night, we watched with anxiety the fast-moving floes and icebergs ...
— Stray Leaves from an Arctic Journal; • Sherard Osborn
... he could do, in the way of repairs, etc. He pressed his suit in various ways, but the widow pretended not to see it at all till she had the old man down on his knees; then she played with him most adroitly, explaining that her lonely position left her open to the tongue of rumor, and that she could not allow him to call so frequently. She played her cards so well that the old man firmly believed she was a modest and retiring widow, and did not the law forbid him, he would have married her. As it was, she led him to hand her the deed of the house ...
— The Mysteries of Montreal - Being Recollections of a Female Physician • Charlotte Fuhrer
... tongue, dear one, and what thou sayest seems to have an accent from a finer world. I am at times ...
— A Little Girl in Old Philadelphia • Amanda Minnie Douglas
... pupils; it deals mainly with the position of the larynx during the singing of tones in the various registers. Garcia describes how the larynx is raised and lowered in the throat, according to the register in which the tones are produced. He also notes the position of the tongue and the ...
— The Psychology of Singing - A Rational Method of Voice Culture Based on a Scientific Analysis of All Systems, Ancient and Modern • David C. Taylor


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