/ tʌŋ; NAmE / noun , verb
■ noun
1.
[ C ] the soft part in the mouth that moves around, used for tasting, swallowing, speaking, etc. :
He clicked his tongue to attract their attention.
She ran her tongue over her lips.
It's very rude to stick your tongue out at people.
—picture at face
2.
[ U , C ] the tongue of some animals, cooked and eaten :
a slice of ox tongue
3.
[ C ] ( formal or literary ) a language :
None of the tribes speak the same tongue.
I tried speaking to her in her native tongue.
—see also mother tongue
4.
[ sing. ] a particular way of speaking :
He has a sharp tongue.
( formal )
I'll thank you to keep a civil tongue in your head (= speak politely) .
—see also silver tongue
5.
-tongued (in adjectives) speaking in the way mentioned :
sharp-tongued
6.
[ C ] a long narrow piece of leather under the laces on a shoe
—picture at lace-up
7.
[ C ] tongue (of sth) ( literary ) something that is long and narrow and shaped like a tongue :
a tongue of flame
•
IDIOMS
- get your tongue around / round sth
- hold your tongue / peace
- roll / slip / trip off the tongue
- set tongues wagging
- with your tongue in your cheek | with tongue in cheek
—more at bite verb , cat , find verb , loose adjective , loosen verb , slip noun , tip noun , watch verb
■ verb [ vn ]
1.
to stop the flow of air into a wind instrument with your tongue in order to make a note
2.
to lick sth with your tongue
••
WORD ORIGIN
Old English tunge , of Germanic origin; related to Dutch tong , German Zunge , and Latin lingua .