Lexic.us

Definition of Tongue

1. Noun. A mobile mass of muscular tissue covered with mucous membrane and located in the oral cavity.

2. Verb. Articulate by tonguing, as when playing wind instruments.

3. Noun. A human written or spoken language used by a community; opposed to e.g. a computer language.

4. Verb. Lick or explore with the tongue.

5. Noun. Any long thin projection that is transient. "Rifles exploded quick knives of fire into the dark"

6. Noun. A manner of speaking. "She has a glib tongue"

7. Noun. A narrow strip of land that juts out into the sea.

8. Noun. The tongue of certain animals used as meat.

9. Noun. The flap of material under the laces of a shoe or boot.

10. Noun. Metal striker that hangs inside a bell and makes a sound by hitting the side.

Definition of Tongue

1. n. an organ situated in the floor of the mouth of most vertebrates and connected with the hyoid arch.

2. v. t. To speak; to utter.

3. v. i. To talk; to prate.

Definition of Tongue

1. to touch with the tongue (an organ of the mouth) [v TONGUED, TONGUING, TONGUES]

Medical Definition of Tongue

1. 1. An organ situated in the floor of the mouth of most vertebrates and connected with the hyoid arch. The tongue is usually muscular, mobile, and free at one extremity, and in man other mammals is the principal organ of taste, aids in the prehension of food, in swallowing, and in modifying the voice as in speech. "To make his English sweet upon his tongue." (Chaucer) 2. The power of articulate utterance; speech. "Parrots imitating human tongue." (Dryden) 3. Discourse; fluency of speech or expression. "Much tongue and much judgment seldom go together." (L. Estrange) 4. Honorable discourse; eulogy. "She was born noble; let that title find her a private grave, but neither tongue nor honor." (Beau. & Fl) 5. A language; the whole sum of words used by a particular nation; as, the English tongue. "Whose tongue thou shalt not understand." (Deut. Xxviii. 49) "To speak all tongues." (Milton) 6. Speech; words or declarations only; opposed to thoughts or actions. "My little children, let us love in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth." (1 John III. 18) 7. A people having a distinct language. "A will gather all nations and tongues." (Isa. Lxvi. 18) 8. The lingual ribbon, or odontophore, of a mollusk. The proboscis of a moth or a butterfly. The lingua of an insect. 9. Any small sole. 10. That which is considered as resembing an animal's tongue, in position or form. Specifically: A projection, or slender appendage or fixture; as, the tongue of a buckle, or of a balance. A projection on the side, as of a board, which fits into a groove. A point, or long, narrow strip of land, projecting from the mainland into a sea or a lake. The pole of a vehicle; especially, the pole of an ox cart, to the end of which the oxen are yoked. The clapper of a bell. A sort piece of rope spliced into the upper part of standing backstays, etc.; also. The upper main piece of a mast composed of several pieces. Same as Reed. To hold the tongue, to be silent. Tongue bone, the hyoid bone. Tongue grafting. See Grafting. Synonym: Language, speech, expression. See Language. Origin: OE. Tunge, tonge, AS. Tunge; akin to OFries. Tunge, D. Tong, OS. Tunga, G. Zunge, OHG. Zunga, Icel. & Sw. Tunga, Dan tunge, Goth. Tug, OL. Dingua, L. Lingua. 243 Cf.Language, Lingo. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Tongue Pictures

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Lexicographical Neighbors of Tongue

tonga Tonga Tongan Tongan monetary unit tongas tonged tonger tongers tonging tongman

tongmen tongs tongster tongsters tongue (current term) tongue (current term) tongue-fish tongue-flower tongue-in-cheek tongue-lashing

tongue-shaped tongue-shaped tongue-swallowing tongue-tie tongue-tie tongue-tied tongued tonguefish tonguefish tongueflower

Literary usage of Tongue

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. The Encyclopedia Americana: A Library of Universal Knowledge (1920)
"If a current of cool air be directed on the tongue a saline taste is perceived; and a smart tap on the tongue will produce a taste analogous to that excited ..."

2. Monographic Medicine by William Robie Patten Emerson, Guido Guerrini, William Brown, Wendell Christopher Phillips, John Whitridge Williams, John Appleton Swett, Hans Günther, Mario Mariotti, Hugh Grant Rowell (1916)
"(d) The Movements of the tongue We study the following movements of the tongue, as worked out by Flesch: (1) protrusion of tongue (bilateral action of Mm. ..."

3. Proceedings by Philadelphia County Medical Society (1888)
"Six months ago he first experienced sharp and shooting pain extending from the root of the tongue on the left side down the neck and over the face. ..."

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