1. A mobile mass of muscular tissue covered with mucous membrane and located in the oral cavity
   "The lingua, or tongue, is essential for speech and swallowing";
   - lingua [technical], clapper [informal]
    
2. A human written or spoken language used by a community; opposed to e.g. a computer language
   "English is his mother tongue";
   - natural language
    
3. A manner of speaking
   "he spoke with a thick tongue"; "she has a glib tongue"
    
4. A narrow strip of land that juts out into the sea
   "The sandy tongue of land stretched far into the bay";
   - spit
    
5. Any long thin projection that is transient
   "tongues of flame licked at the walls";
   - knife
    
6. The tongue of certain animals used as meat
   "The deli served sliced beef tongue sandwiches"
    
7. The flap of material under the laces of a shoe or boot
   "He adjusted the tongue of his hiking boot to prevent it from rubbing against his ankle"
    
8. Metal striker that hangs inside a bell and makes a sound by hitting the side
   "The old church bell's tongue had worn down over centuries of use";
   - clapper [informal]

1. (music) articulate by tonguing, as when playing wind instruments
   "The flautist tongued the notes precisely"
    
2. Lick or explore with the tongue
   "The cat tongued its fur clean"

Sounds like: tons, tuns, ttongu

Derived forms: tongued, tongues, tonguing

Type of: articulator, cape, delivery, flap, language, lap, lick, linguistic communication, manner of speaking, ness [UK], organ, organs, play, projection, speech, spiel, striker, variety meat

Part of: bell, boot, cakehole [Brit, informal], gob [Brit, informal], hole [informal], kisser [informal], maw [informal], mouth, oral cavity, oral fissure, pharynx, shoe, throat, trap [informal], yap [N. Amer, informal]

Encyclopedia: Tongue, Nicholas