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   tongue

   /tʌŋ/

   noun

   • 1. the fleshy muscular organ in the mouth of a mammal, used for tasting, licking, swallowing, and (in humans) articulating speech.
   • ▪ the equivalent organ in other vertebrates, sometimes used (in snakes) as a scent organ or (in chameleons) for catching food.
   • ▪ an analogous organ in insects, formed from some of the mouthparts and used in feeding.
   • ▪ the tongue of an ox or lamb as food: "a galantine of tongue"
   • 2. used in reference to a person's style or manner of speaking: "he was a redoubtable debater with a caustic tongue" Similar way/manner of speakingway/manner of talkingform/mode of expressionchoice of wordsverbal expressionconversationvocabularyphraseologystyleparlancespeechfaçon de parler
   • ▪ a particular language: "the girls were singing in their native tongue" Similar languagedialectpatoisvernacularmother tonguenative tonguejargonargotcantpidgincreolelingua francaspeechparlanceinformal:lingopatter
   • 3. a strip of leather or fabric under the laces in a shoe, attached only at the front end.
   • ▪ the pin of a buckle.
   • 4. the free-swinging metal piece inside a bell which is made to strike the bell to produce the sound.
   • 5. a long, low promontory of land.
   • 6. a projecting strip on a wooden board fitting into a groove on another.
   • 7. the vibrating reed of a musical instrument or organ pipe.
   • 8. a jet of flame: "a tongue of flame flashed from the gun"

   verb

   • 1. sound (a note) distinctly on a wind instrument by interrupting the air flow with the tongue: "Eugene has worked out the correct tonguing"
   • 2. lick or caress with the tongue: "the other horse tongued every part of the colt's mane"

   Word Origin Old Englishtunge, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch tong, German Zunge, and Latin lingua.

   Derivatives

   • 1. tongueless adjective

   Scrabble Points: 7

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