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
Composer Paul has concocted a pastiche of songs forever on the edge of our memories if not our tongues.
—
Greg Evans, Deadline, 20 Apr. 2026
Like the tongues of a multi-headed snake, the Trail of Tears hissed through Chattanooga, Northern Alabama, Western North Carolina, Middle Tennessee and up through Southern Illinois, down through Missouri, across Arkansas before stopping in what is now Eastern Oklahoma.
—Keith Sharon, USA Today, 19 Apr. 2026
Notebooks filled with two tongues leaning against each other.
—Literary Hub, 14 Apr. 2026
Chows are magnificent dogs of ancient Chinese descent known for their black tongues and lion-like mane.
—Katelyn Chef, Martha Stewart, 12 Apr. 2026
Who is even more vulnerable than Handmaids, women who have been robbed of their freedom and their babies and, sometimes, their eyes, fingers, and tongues?
—Amanda Whiting, Vulture, 8 Apr. 2026
Olympian figure skater Alysa Liu has been on the tip of everyone’s tongues, following her two gold medal wins at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
—Katie Decker-Jacoby, StyleCaster, 30 Mar. 2026
The sediment close to their roots can be as sweet as fruit nectars or tree sap, although to human tongues the mud tastes overwhelmingly of salt and decay.
—David George Haskell, Big Think, 27 Mar. 2026
But those from back home, where memories of Magic still sit fresh on the tip of tongues, sense there could be more.
—Luca Evans, Denver Post, 22 Mar. 2026
Greg Evans, Deadline, 20 Apr. 2026
Like the tongues of a multi-headed snake, the Trail of Tears hissed through Chattanooga, Northern Alabama, Western North Carolina, Middle Tennessee and up through Southern Illinois, down through Missouri, across Arkansas before stopping in what is now Eastern Oklahoma.
—Keith Sharon, USA Today, 19 Apr. 2026
Notebooks filled with two tongues leaning against each other.
—Literary Hub, 14 Apr. 2026
Chows are magnificent dogs of ancient Chinese descent known for their black tongues and lion-like mane.
—Katelyn Chef, Martha Stewart, 12 Apr. 2026
Who is even more vulnerable than Handmaids, women who have been robbed of their freedom and their babies and, sometimes, their eyes, fingers, and tongues?
—Amanda Whiting, Vulture, 8 Apr. 2026
Olympian figure skater Alysa Liu has been on the tip of everyone’s tongues, following her two gold medal wins at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
—Katie Decker-Jacoby, StyleCaster, 30 Mar. 2026
The sediment close to their roots can be as sweet as fruit nectars or tree sap, although to human tongues the mud tastes overwhelmingly of salt and decay.
—David George Haskell, Big Think, 27 Mar. 2026
But those from back home, where memories of Magic still sit fresh on the tip of tongues, sense there could be more.
—Luca Evans, Denver Post, 22 Mar. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tongues
Noun
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Another sound-meaning correspondence frequently noted is that certain sounds appear more often in basic word categories, like those associated with body parts, even across unrelated languages.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
21 Apr. 2026
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The event boasted screenings of the film in specific languages chosen by attendees, experiential stations with highlights including a stop where fans were able to moonwalk alongside Jaafar Jackson as Michael, or get a chance to be the star themselves at an immersive concert experience.—
Anthony D'Alessandro,
Deadline,
21 Apr. 2026
Noun
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In the October 2025 study that followed families over time, children who spent more time with digital media at age 2 tended to have smaller vocabularies at age 3, regardless of the child’s temperament or the caregiver’s personality traits.—
Miriam Fauzia,
Dallas Morning News,
2 Mar. 2026
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Teams were asked to learn new interfaces, adopt new vocabularies, and take responsibility for outputs whose behavior remained probabilistic rather than deterministic.—
Alexander Puutio,
Forbes.com,
28 Jan. 2026
Noun
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The British colonial name of New Cut was different from other nearby creeks—Wadmalaw, Bohicket, Leadenwah, Stono—all named in Indigenous dialects.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
10 Apr. 2026
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Human communication with honeyguides in northern Mozambique occurs in local dialects.—
Rafil Kroll-Zaidi,
Harpers Magazine,
24 Mar. 2026
Noun
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If the assignment is to translate something from a foreign language, there are plenty of tools and resources that can do it for you, including by recognizing and figuratively translating idioms.—
Ethan Siegel,
Big Think,
25 Mar. 2026
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Those books introduced me to a vision of American teenage life and taught me the rhythms and idioms of American English, nuances that would later replace my Britishisms and shape my career as a journalist.—
Faith Karimi,
CNN Money,
17 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Tongues.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tongues. Accessed 24 Apr. 2026.
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