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| tongue [ tung ] |
noun (plural tongues) |
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| Definition: |
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1. fleshy organ inside mouth: the movable fleshy organ attached to the bottom of the inside of the mouth of humans and most animals, used for tasting, licking, swallowing, and, in humans, speech.
Technical name glossa (sense 1)
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2. animal's tongue as food: the tongue of an animal, especially a cow, used as food
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3. language: a language or dialect
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4. way of speaking: somebody's manner of speaking
  She can have a sharp tongue when she's annoyed.
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5. ability to speak: the power of speech
She was so overwhelmed her tongue deserted her.
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6. flap in shoe: the middle flap in the opening of a shoe or boot
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7. pin in buckle: the pivoting pin in a buckle
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8. clapper in bell: the small swinging hammer inside a bell that hits against the inside of the bell to make the sound
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9. geography strip of land: a narrow strip of land sticking out into an ocean, lake, or river
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10. music vibrating end of musical reed: the vibrating end of a reed in a wind instrument
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11. transportation pole on carriage: the pole at the front of a coach or carriage to which the horses' harnesses are fastened
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12. projecting strip fitting into groove: a strip that sticks out along the edge of a wooden board and is designed to fit into a corresponding groove along the edge of another board
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13. something like tongue: something shaped or moving like a tongue
tongues of flame
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plural noun tongues |
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| Definition: |
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speech resulting from religious ecstasy: speech in no known language that results from religious ecstasy
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verb (past and past participle tongued, present participle tongu·ing, 3rd person present singular tongues) |
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| Definition: |
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1. transitive verb touch something with tongue: to touch or lick something with the tongue
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2. transitive verb kiss somebody using tongue: to kiss somebody with the lips open and the tongue touching the inside of the other person's mouth
(
informal
)
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3. transitive and intransitive verb music use tongue to articulate instrument's notes: to use the tongue to block the flow of air on a wind or brass instrument, thereby separating one note from another
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4. transitive verb cut tongue along edge of board: to cut a tongue along the edge of a wooden board in order to make one half of a tongue-and-groove joint
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| [ Old English tunge< Indo-European] |
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| tongued adjective |
| tongue·less adjective |
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hold your tongue to keep silent
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