noun
1 soft part inside the mouth
ADJECTIVE
▪ long
▪ forked
▪ loose , sharp ( both figurative )
▪
Everyone knows now, thanks to Ken's loose ~ (= he could not keep the secret) .
▪
He has a reputation for having a sharp ~.
▪
She could tear a man to pieces in three minutes with her sharp ~.
VERB + TONGUE
▪ poke out , put out , stick out
▪
It's very rude to stick your ~ out at people.
▪ run
▪
He ran his ~ nervously over his lips.
▪ click
▪ bite , hold ( both figurative )
▪
She was dying to say something sarcastic to him, but bit her ~ and stayed silent.
▪ free , loosen ( both figurative )
▪
The wine had loosened his ~.
▪ roll off , slip off , trip off
▪
It's not a name that exactly trips off the ~ (= is easy to say) .
TONGUE + VERB
▪ hang out
▪
The dog lay in a patch of shade with its ~ hanging out.
▪ flick , flicker
▪
The snake's ~ flicked out of its mouth.
▪ lick sth
▪
His ~ licked dry lips.
▪ wag ( figurative )
▪
This is a small island and ~s are beginning to wag (= people are beginning to gossip) .
▪ find ( figurative )
▪
Before she could find her ~ (= speak) the door had closed behind him.
▪ watch ( figurative )
▪
You just watch your ~ (= be careful what you say) !
TONGUE + NOUN
▪ piercing
▪
I had a ~ piercing, an ear piercing, and a nose ring.
PHRASES
▪ a slip of the ~ ( figurative )
▪
He said it was a slip of the ~ (= a mistake in speaking) and apologized.
▪ be on the tip of your ~ ( figurative )
▪
It was on the tip of her ~ to refuse.
▪ get your ~ around sth , get your ~ round sth ( BrE , figurative )
▪
He was having trouble getting his ~ around my name.
▪ a ~ of fire , a ~ of flame
▪
Tongues of flame licked up the walls.
2 a language
ADJECTIVE
▪ mother , native
▪
She speaks English, though her native ~ is German.
▪ common
▪ foreign
▪ strange
VERB + TONGUE
▪ speak
▪
They were speaking a foreign ~.
PREPOSITION
▪ in a/the ~
▪
She could hear the men whispering in a foreign ~.
PHRASES
▪ speak in ~s (= to speak in unknown languages, esp. at a religious ceremony)