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¹tongue

noun \ˈtəŋ\

: the soft, movable part in the mouth that is used for tasting and eating food and in human beings for speaking

: the tongue of an animal (such as an ox or sheep) that is eaten as food

: a particular way or quality of speaking

Full Definition of TONGUE

a : a fleshy movable muscular process of the floor of the mouths of most vertebrates that bears sensory end organs and small glands and functions especially in taking and swallowing food and in humans as a speech organ

b : a part of various invertebrate animals that is analogous to the tongue

: the flesh of a tongue (as of the ox or sheep) used as food

: the power of communication through speech

a : language; especially : a spoken language

b : manner or quality of utterance with respect to tone or sound, the sense of what is expressed, or the intention of the speaker <she has a clever tongue> <a sharp tongue>

c : ecstatic usually unintelligible utterance usually accompanying religious excitation —usually used in plural

d : the cry of or as if of a hound pursuing or in sight of game —used especially in the phrase to give tongue

: a tapering flame <tongues of fire>

: a long narrow strip of land projecting into a body of water

: something resembling an animal's tongue in being elongated and fastened at one end only: as

a : a movable pin in a buckle

b : a metal ball suspended inside a bell so as to strike against the sides as the bell is swung

c : the pole of a vehicle

d : the flap under the lacing or buckles of a shoe at the throat of the vamp

a : the rib on one edge of a board that fits into a corresponding groove in an edge of another board to make a flush joint

b : feather 4

— tongue·like \-ˌlīk\ adjective

See tongue defined for English-language learners

See tongue defined for kids

Origin of TONGUE

Middle English tunge, from Old English; akin to Old High German zunga tongue, Latin lingua

First Known Use: before 12th century

Related to TONGUE

Synonyms: lingo, mother tongue, speech, language, vocabulary

Other Anatomy Terms

bilateral symmetry, carotid, cartilage, dorsal, entrails, prehensile, renal, solar plexus, supine, thoracic, ventral

Rhymes with TONGUE

bung, dung, hung, lung, pung, rung, tung, young

²tongue

verb

: to produce separate notes when you are blowing air through a musical instrument (such as a trumpet) by using your tongue to briefly stop the flow of air

: to touch or lick something with your tongue

tonguedtongu·ing \ˈtəŋ-iŋ\

Full Definition of TONGUE

transitive verb

archaic : scold

: to touch or lick with or as if with the tongue

a : to cut a tongue on <tongue a board>

b : to join (as boards) by means of a tongue and groove <tongue flooring together>

: to articulate (notes) by tonguing

intransitive verb

: to project in a tongue

: to articulate notes on a wind instrument by successively interrupting the stream of wind with the action of the tongue

See tongue defined for English-language learners

First Known Use of TONGUE

14th century

Tongue

geographical name \ˈtəŋ\

Definition of TONGUE

river 246 miles (396 kilometers) N Wyoming & S Montana flowing N into Yellowstone River

TONGUE[1] Defined for Kids

tongue

noun \ˈtəŋ\

Definition of TONGUE for Kids

: a fleshy movable part of the mouth used in tasting, in taking and swallowing food, and by human beings in speaking

: a particular way or quality of speaking <Keep a polite tongue.>

: language 1 <Many tongues are spoken in a big city.>

: something that is long and fastened at one end <a tongue of land> <the tongue of a shoe>

Medical Dictionary

tongue

noun \ˈtəŋ\

Medical Definition of TONGUE

: a process of the floor of the mouth that is attached basally to the hyoid bone, that consists essentially of a mass of extrinsic muscle attaching its base to other parts, intrinsic muscle by which parts of the structure move in relation to each other, and an epithelial covering rich in sensory end organs and small glands, and that functions especially in taking and swallowing food and as a speech organ