as in languages
the stock of words, pronunciation, and grammar used by a people as their basic means of communication
he spoke in a tongue that I didn't understand
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Recent Examples of tongues
The results have often left me highly frustrated, but also have given me indescribable joy at the fact of having absorbed (although only partially, of course) some of the elusive beauty of those marvelous, magical, mysteriously alluring tongues.
—
Douglas Hofstadter,
Time,
30 June 2026
The scene when Emily Blunt speaks in alien tongues was deeply spooky.
—
Adam Frank,
Forbes.com,
25 June 2026
These are usually fine mesh covers over feeding ports that prevent bees from feeding but allow the birds to stick their tongues through the guards.
—
Arricca Elin Sansone,
Southern Living,
24 June 2026
His supporters rewarded him with a landslide victory, then held their tongues as the Conservative leader bowed to rancorous calls to resign amid the Partygate scandal after three years in office.
—
Tristan Bove,
Fortune,
23 June 2026
Members might be led by the Holy Spirit to speak in tongues or prophesy, for example, or to dance during worship.
—
Eythana Miller,
The Dial,
23 June 2026
Those who cannot twerk usually fall back on sticking their tongues down each other’s throats, because this is Love Island, after all.
—
Kathleen Walsh,
Vulture,
22 June 2026
An extra set of tongues allows the wearer a choice of gold or black, and both carry the blue stitching motif signature to Bonito’s sneakers.
—
Ian Servantes,
Footwear News,
17 June 2026
The foreign tongues spoke Spanish, Portuguese and Crioulo.
—
Gavin Godfrey,
AJC.com,
17 June 2026
Douglas Hofstadter,
Time,
30 June 2026
The scene when Emily Blunt speaks in alien tongues was deeply spooky.
—
Adam Frank,
Forbes.com,
25 June 2026
These are usually fine mesh covers over feeding ports that prevent bees from feeding but allow the birds to stick their tongues through the guards.
—
Arricca Elin Sansone,
Southern Living,
24 June 2026
His supporters rewarded him with a landslide victory, then held their tongues as the Conservative leader bowed to rancorous calls to resign amid the Partygate scandal after three years in office.
—
Tristan Bove,
Fortune,
23 June 2026
Members might be led by the Holy Spirit to speak in tongues or prophesy, for example, or to dance during worship.
—
Eythana Miller,
The Dial,
23 June 2026
Those who cannot twerk usually fall back on sticking their tongues down each other’s throats, because this is Love Island, after all.
—
Kathleen Walsh,
Vulture,
22 June 2026
An extra set of tongues allows the wearer a choice of gold or black, and both carry the blue stitching motif signature to Bonito’s sneakers.
—
Ian Servantes,
Footwear News,
17 June 2026
The foreign tongues spoke Spanish, Portuguese and Crioulo.
—
Gavin Godfrey,
AJC.com,
17 June 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tongues
Noun
-
In recent years China’s Communist Party has ramped up oversight of religious institutions, rolled back the use of ethnic minority languages in primary, secondary schools and kindergartens.
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Among other things, the council revolutionized the Catholic Church’s relations with other religions and the laity, and allowed Mass to be celebrated in vernacular languages rather than Latin.
Noun
-
Do the formal vocabularies that are supposed to encode my field actually capture how the people in it think?
-
But more variations of Austronesian languages have been identified in Taiwan, accompanied with more intricate grammatical structures and expansive vocabularies, which has provided insights for linguists.
Noun
-
It is also being distributed internationally and has been translated into French, Spanish, German and three Greenlandic dialects.
-
Language is often a reflection of the culture that shapes it, impacting tone, idioms, dialects and even silence across regions.
Noun
-
Language is often a reflection of the culture that shapes it, impacting tone, idioms, dialects and even silence across regions.
-
Probably because at the time many of the time signatures and chordal progressions that Miles used were over the head of a young guitar player still functioning in the blues and folk idioms.
Cite this Entry
“Tongues.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tongues. Accessed 2 Jul. 2026.
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