tongue
[noun]
Synonyms: language, dialect, parlance, speech

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

I. tongue¹ S3 W3 /tʌŋ/ noun
[Language: Old English; Origin: tunge]

1. MOUTH [countable] the soft part inside your mouth that you can move about and use for eating and speaking:
Joe ran his tongue over his dry lips.
The taste of the chocolate was still on her tongue.
The girl scowled at me, then stuck out her tongue.

2. click your tongue to make a sharp noise with your tongue to show that you are annoyed or disappointed:
She clicked her tongue and shook her head.

3. sharp tongue if you have a sharp tongue, you often talk in a way that shows you are angry:
Gina’s sharp tongue will get her into trouble one day.

4. silver tongue literary if you have a silver tongue, you can talk in a way that makes people like you or persuades them that you are right

5. sharp-tongued/silver-tongued etc able to talk in a very angry or pleasant way:
a sharp-tongued young teacher

6. with (your) tongue in (your) cheek if you say something with your tongue in your cheek, you say it as a joke, not seriously ⇒ tongue-in-cheek

7. slip of the tongue a small mistake in something you say:
Did I say $100? It must have been a slip of the tongue.

8. bite your tongue to stop yourself saying something because you know it would not be sensible to say it:
I wanted to argue, but I had to bite my tongue.

9. Cat got your tongue? (also Lost your tongue?) spoken used to ask someone why they are not talking

10. get your tongue around something informal to be able to say a difficult word or phrase:
I couldn’t get my tongue around the names of the villages we’d visited.

11. trip/roll off the tongue informal if a name or phrase trips or rolls off your tongue, it is easy or pleasant to say:
Their names trip off the tongue very easily.

12. loosen sb’s tongue informal if something such as alcohol loosens your tongue, it makes you talk a lot:
The wine had certainly loosened her tongue.

13. find your tongue informal to say something after you have been silent for a time because you were afraid or shy:
Polly found her tongue at last and told them about the attack.

14. set tongues wagging to do something that people will talk about in an unkind way:
Angela’s divorce will certainly set tongues wagging.

15. keep a civil tongue in your head old-fashioned spoken used to tell someone that they should talk politely to people

16. speak with forked tongue to say things that are not true – used humorously

17. speak in tongues to talk using strange words as part of a religious experience

18. LANGUAGE literary a language:
Anton lapsed into his own tongue when he was excited.
mother/native tongue (=the language you learn as a child)
She felt more comfortable talking in her native tongue.

19. FOOD [uncountable] the tongue of a cow or sheep, cooked and eaten cold

20. SHAPE [countable] something that has a long thin shape
tongue of
Huge tongues of fire were licking the side of the building.

21. SHOE [countable] the part of a shoe that lies on top of your foot, under the part where you tie it
⇒ on the tip of your tongue at tip¹(5), ⇒ hold your tongue at hold¹(29)

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

II. tongue² verb

1. [intransitive and transitive] to use your tongue to make separate sounds when playing a musical instrument

2. [transitive] to touch something with your tongue

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

tongue
noun
I. soft part inside the mouth
ADJ. forked | loose, sharp (both figurative) Everyone knows now, thanks to Ken's loose tongue (= he could not keep the secret). She could tear a character to pieces in three minutes with her sharp tongue.
VERB + TONGUE poke/put/stick out It's very rude to stick your tongue out at people.
run He ran his tongue nervously over his lips.
click/cluck | bite, hold (both figurative) She was dying to say something sarcastic to him, but bit her tongue and stayed silent.
free, loosen (both figurative) The wine had loosened his tongue.
roll/slip/trip off It's not a name that exactly trips off the tongue (= is easy to say).
TONGUE + VERB hang out The dog lay in a patch of shade with its tongue hanging out.
flick, flicker The snake's tongue flicked out of its mouth.
lick sth His tongue licked dry lips.
wag (figurative) This is a small island and tongues are beginning to wag (= people are beginning to gossip).
find (figurative) Before she could find her tongue (= speak) the door had closed behind him.
watch (figurative) You just watch your tongue (= be careful what you say)!
PHRASES be on the tip of your tongue (figurative) It was on the tip of her tongue to refuse.
get your tongue around/round sth (figurative) He was having trouble getting his tongue around my name.
a tongue of fire/flame (figurative) Tongues of flame licked up the walls.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

tongue
II. a language
ADJ. mother, native She speaks English and Danish, though her native tongue is German.
foreign | strange
PREP. in a/the ~ She could hear men whispering in a foreign tongue.
PHRASES speak in tongues (= to speak in unknown languages, especially at a religious ceremony)

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

tongue
tʌŋ
See: at the tip of one's tongue , cat get one's tongue , hold one's tongue , keep a civil tongue in one's head , slip of the tongue

[TahlilGaran] English Idioms Dictionary ▲