tongue
On a wind instrument, to articulate a note by starting the air with a tap of the…On a wind instrument, to articulate a note by starting the air with a tap of the tongue, as though by speaking a 'd' or 't' sound (alveolar plosive).
Recorded UK: Association Shtooka, Judith Franck, CC BY 3.0 US, Wikimedia Commons · Recorded: Dvortygirl, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Meaning
9 senses(ambitransitive)On a wind instrument, to articulate a note by starting the air with a tap of the tongue, as though by speaking a 'd' or 't' sound (alveolar plosive).
Playing wind instruments involves tonguing on the reed or mouthpiece.
articulate by tonguing, as when playing wind instruments
To protrude in relatively long, narrow sections.
a soil horizon that tongues into clay
To join by means of a tongue and groove.
to tongue boards together
More meanings 6
(transitive)To manipulate with the tongue.
(slang, sometimes, transitive, vulgar)To lick, penetrate or manipulate with the tongue during flirting or oral sex.
(intransitive, obsolete)To talk; to prate.
(obsolete, transitive)To speak; to utter.
(obsolete, transitive)To chide; to scold.
(archaic, transitive)To flense
Origin
From Middle English tongue, a late spelling of tong(e), tung(e), from Old English tunge, fFrom Middle English tongue, a late spelling of tong(e), tung(e), from Old English tunge, from Proto-West Germanic *tungā (“tongue”), from Proto-Germanic *tungǭ (“tongue”), from Proto-Indo-European *dn̥ǵʰwéh₂s (“tongue”). Doublet of langue and lingua.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
tongues, tonguing, tongued, tonguedTenses
tongue · tongued · will tongue · have tonguedWord family
130 related wordsLessons for this word
3 lessons- A1Present simple — Because it is a verb
- A1Past simple, regular verbs — Because of its past form
- A2Present perfect: introduction — Because of its past participle
See also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.