tongue

1 of 2

noun

ˈtəŋ 

1

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

2

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

3

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, typically unintelligible utterance occurring especially in a moment of religious excitation

—usually plural

It would be like the miracle described in the Acts of the Apostles, demonstrated with healing, speaking in tongues and other signs and wonders.

—Dan Wakefield

… where they can sing and shriek and talk in tongues and testify and have a part.

—Jane Kramer

d

: the cry of or as if of a hound pursuing or in sight of game

—used especially in the phrase to give tongue

4

: the power of communication through speech

5

: a tapering flame

tongues of fire

6

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

a

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

b

: a movable pin in a buckle

c

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

d

: the pole (see pole entry 1 sense 1b) of a vehicle (such as a wagon)

7

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 sense 4

8

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

tonguelike

ˈtəŋ-ˌlīk 

adjective

tongue

2 of 2

verb

tongued; tonguing ˈtəŋ-iŋ  ; tongues

1

transitive + intransitive music : to articulate (notes on a wind instrument) by successively interrupting the stream of wind with the action of the tongue

Playing [the bugle] and tonguing the note and making it come out exactly spot-on, that takes a technique and a skill.

—Bethann Dixon

2

transitive : to touch or lick (something) with the tongue

cows tonguing the long grass

3

transitive, carpentry

a

: to cut a tongue on

tongue a board

b

: to join (parts, such as boards) by means of a tongue and groove

tongue flooring together

4

transitive archaic : scold entry 1

Synonyms

Noun

• language
• lingo
• mother tongue
• speech
• vocabulary

Examples of tongue in a Sentence

Noun

The cow ran its tongue over its lips.

The taste of the spice was still on her tongue.

The little girl stuck her tongue out at me.

He spoke in a foreign tongue.

English is my native tongue.

They speak the same tongue.

His sharp tongue is going to get him into trouble someday.

Verb

learning how to tongue notes on the clarinet

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

The black, cleat-like shoe is a collaboration between the menswear brand Bode and the sneaker giant, and features both the iconic Nike swoosh and the cult fashion label’s logo on the tongue—not to mention a charm on the laces. —Hannah Jackson, Vogue, 5 Apr. 2024

By observing how long a snake flicked its tongue before each liner, that team also showed that the snakes homed in on their own scents more than any other. —Christian Thorsberg, Smithsonian Magazine, 4 Apr. 2024

Another impact is placed under the jaw, then attached to a nerve that controls the tongue. —Sandee Lamotte, CNN, 4 Apr. 2024

One photo Renner shared captured him in the driver's seat and sticking his tongue out while Ava looked over at him, smiling. —Jordan Greene, Peoplemag, 2 Apr. 2024

But their tongues are, on average, about four inches long. —Avery Hurt, Discover Magazine, 25 Mar. 2024

Biting their tongues, Art and Frank even met the artist and his manager. —Jason Kersten, Rolling Stone, 23 Mar. 2024

In the first year in my current house my neighbor, Nancy, gifted me some dragon tongue bean seeds. —Tamara Yakaboski, The Denver Post, 20 Mar. 2024

The bullet lacerated Jenkins’ tongue, broke his jaw and went out through his neck. —Emma Tucker, CNN, 17 Mar. 2024

Verb

His tongued lolled out of his mouth and his eyes remained open. —Jenelle Riley, Variety, 23 Feb. 2024

No way out of this pit where the sun shatters into shards tongued between teeth. —Hazlitt, 17 May 2023

An old lady lifts her skirts and orders a man to tongue her in the presence of an appreciative group that includes her own son; a kindly prostitute marks Tiller’s forehead with her menstrual blood. —Alexandra Schwartz, The New Yorker, 8 Feb. 2021

Holy smokes, how much is your Rolling Stones tongue artwork worth? $150,000. —Matt Wake | [e-mail], al, 11 Feb. 2020

Set in Ohio and based on Celeste Ng’s 2017 bestseller of the same name, Little Fires Everywhere follows the story of the Richardson family, helmed by picture-perfect and silver-tongued matriarch Elena. —Sara Delgado, Teen Vogue, 20 Feb. 2020

Behind them, looks like Kevan Miller and his wife Haley seem to have gone as Gene and Ace from Kiss, tongues out and ready to rock and roll all night. —BostonGlobe.com, 31 Oct. 2019

Wale, meanwhile, plays the fiery, silver-tongued Orisha named Chango, an important link to Shadow’s unexplored past. —Nick Romano, EW.com, 21 Nov. 2019

But along came demure Linda, delicately crashing onto the presidential campaign press bus; then entered bulldozer Nina, with major scoops on Douglas Ginsberg and Anita Hill; and in came tart-tongued Cokie with her savvy Congressional reporting. —BostonGlobe.com, 18 Sep. 2019

Word History

Etymology

Noun

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

First Known Use

Noun

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 4

Phrases Containing tongue

• adder's-tongue
• a sharp tongue
• a slip of the tongue
• bite one's tongue
• bull tongue
• cat got your tongue
• click one's tongue
• double-tongue
• forked tongue
• get one's tongue around
• give tongue
• hold one's tongue
• hound's-tongue
• keep a civil tongue
• loosen someone's tongue
• loose tongue
• mind one's tongue/language
• mother tongue
• on the tip of one's tongue
• roll/trip off the tongue
• speak/talk with (a) forked tongue
• (the) cat has someone's tongue
• tongue and groove
• tongue depressor
• tongue in cheek
• tongue-lash
• tongue-tie
• tongue-tied
• tongue twister
• triple-tongue
• watch one's language/mouth/tongue
• watch one's tongue
• with (one's) tongue in (one's) cheek

Video

An Abbreviated History of American English Spelling

Soop, wimmen, and headake did not make the cut

Kids Definition

tongue

1 of 2 noun

ˈtəŋ 

1

: a fleshy movable muscular part of the floor of the mouth of most vertebrates that has sensory organs (as taste buds) and small glands and functions especially in taking and swallowing food and in human beings as a speech organ

2

: the flesh of a tongue (as of beef) used as food

3

: the power of communication : speech

4

: language sense 1a

5

: something resembling a tongue (as in being long and fastened at one end)

tongueless

-ləs

adjective

tonguelike

-ˌlīk 

adjective

tongue

2 of 2 verb

tongued; tonguing ˈtəŋ-iŋ 

1

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

2

: to separate individual notes when playing a wind instrument by interrupting the stream of wind with the tongue

Medical Definition

tongue

noun

ˈtəŋ 

: 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

Geographical Definition

Tongue

geographical name

ˈtəŋ 

river 246 miles (396 kilometers) long in northern Wyoming and southern Montana flowing north into the Yellowstone River