Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Tongue
Tongue
,Noun.
1.
(Anat.)
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.
[Obs.]
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
Chaucer.
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.
(Zool.)
(a)
The lingual ribbon, or odontophore, of a mollusk.
(b)
The proboscis of a moth or a butterfly.
(c)
The lingua of an insect.
9.
(Zool.)
Any small sole.
10.
That which is considered as resembing an animal’s tongue, in position or form.
Specifically: –(a)
A projection, or slender appendage or fixture; as, the tongue of a buckle, or of a balance.
(b)
A projection on the side, as of a board, which fits into a groove.
(c)
A point, or long, narrow strip of land, projecting from the mainland into a sea or a lake.
(d)
The pole of a vehicle; especially, the pole of an ox cart, to the end of which the oxen are yoked.
(e)
The clapper of a bell.
(f)
(Naut.)
A short piece of rope spliced into the upper part of standing backstays, etc.; also. the upper main piece of a mast composed of several pieces.
(g)
(Mus.)
Same as , 5.
Reed
, Noun.
To hold the tongue
, to be silent.
– Tongue bone
(Anat.)
, the hyoid bone.
– Tongue grafting
. See under
Grafting
.
Syn. – Language; speech; expression. See
Language
. Tongue
,Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Tongued
; p. pr. & vb. n.
Tonguing
.] 1.
To speak; to utter.
“Such stuff as madmen tongue.” Shak.
2.
To chide; to scold.
How might she
tongue
me. Shakespeare
3.
(Mus.)
To modulate or modify with the tongue, as notes, in playing the flute and some other wind instruments.
4.
To join means of a tongue and grove;
as, to
. tongue
boards togetherTongue
,Verb.
I.
1.
To talk; to prate.
Dryden.
2.
(Mus.)
To use the tongue in forming the notes, as in playing the flute and some other wind instruments.