tang

noun

1. 1

   A refreshingly sharp aroma or flavor.

   a tang of citrus

   The miraculous air, heady with ozone and made memorably sweet by leagues of wild flowerets, gave tang and savour to the breath.

   To make yogurt, milk or cream is pasteurized and homogenized, then Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophiles bacteria are added to convert the lactose into lactic acid. This is what thickens it, and gives it the distinct tang.

2. 2

   A strong or offensive taste; especially, a taste of something extraneous to the thing itself.

   a tang of cellar

   Wine or cider has a tang of the cask.

3. 3

   figurativeA sharp, specific flavor or tinge.

   a tang of pedantry

   Such proceedings had a strong tang of tyranny.

   a cant of philosophism, and a tang of party politics

   What, was it I who bared my heart / Through unrelenting years, / And knew the sting of misery's dart, / The tang of sorrow's tears?

4. 4

   A projecting part of an object by means of which it is secured to a handle, or to some other part.

   (archaic)

   slip the cable over the tang

   "And inside the joints, these so-called O-rings are supposed to expand to make a seal—is that right?" ¶ "Yes, sir. In static conditions they should be in direct contact with the tang and clevis and squeezed twenty-thousandths of an inch."

5. 5

   A projecting part of an object by means of which it is secured to a handle, or to some other part. The part of a knife, fork, file, or other instrument or hand tool, which is inserted into the handle.

   full-tang

   A full-tang knife is strongest against handle breakage, but partial-tang knives are common because of a combination of facts: they are inexpensive, and in some applications any manner of use that would exceed the handle's limit is not an appropriate manner of use.

6. 6

   A projecting part of an object by means of which it is secured to a handle, or to some other part. The part of a knife, fork, file, or other instrument or hand tool, which is inserted into the handle. The part of a sword blade to which the handle is fastened.

   I spent the evening collecting the abandoned nests of birds from a rock face a half league distant, and that night I struck fire from the tang of Terminus Est and boiled the coarse meal (which took a long time to cook, because of the altitude) and ate it.

7. 7

   A projecting part of an object by means of which it is secured to a handle, or to some other part. The projecting part of the breech of a musket barrel, by which the barrel is secured to the stock.

   The rifle carried a vernier sight on the tang[…]

8. 8

   A shuffleboard paddle.

9. 9

   Anything resembling a tongue in form or position, such as the tongue of a buckle.

10. 10

    Variant of tongueobsoleteObsolete form of tongue.

    1667, John Lacy, Sauny the Scot: Or, the Taming of the Shrew, Act V, Sauny Hear ye, sir; could not ye mistake, and pull her tang out instead of her teeth?

noun

1. 1

   A sharp, twanging sound; an unpleasant tone; a twang.

verb

1. 1

   datedTo strike two metal objects together loudly in order to persuade a swarm of honeybees to land so it may be captured by the beekeeper.

2. 2

   To make a ringing sound; to ring.

   let thy tongue tang arguments of state

noun

1. 1

   rareknotted wrack, Ascophyllum nodosum (coarse blackish seaweed)

noun

1. 1

   The vagina or vulva.

   The guys like to look at her tang, because that's how they are […]

2. 2

   Sexual intercourse with a woman

noun

1. 1

   Any of a group of saltwater fish from the family Acanthuridae, especially the genus Zebrasoma.

Forms

plural

tangs

past tense

tanged

past participle

tanged

present participle

tanging

third person singular

tangs