tong
nounverbnounnouncommon in dialogue
- United Kingdom//tɒŋ//
- United States//tɔŋ//
- //tɑŋ//
An instrument or tool used for manipulating things in a fire without touching them with the hands.
noun
- 1
An instrument or tool used for manipulating things in a fire without touching them with the hands.
[…] these attributes are concrete expressions of God's care and providence and therefore not man-made. This explains the quite bizarre presence of a ‘pair’ of tongs in some lists: in order to make a tong one needs a tong, and how could the first tong be made without a tong?
Etymology
From Middle English tonge (“tongs, fang”), tange, from Old English tange, from Proto-West Germanic *tangu, from Proto-Germanic *tangō, from Proto-Indo-European *denḱ- (“to bite”). Cognate with Old Norse tǫng (modern Icelandic töng), Old High German zanga (modern German Zange). Other cognates include Sanskrit दशति (dáśati, “to bite”) and Albanian dang (“bite, nip”).
verb
- 1
To use tongs.
- 2
To grab, manipulate or transport something using tongs.
noun
- 1
A Chinese lineage organization responsible for managing ancestral land.
An Ordinance to provide for the termination of the Block Crown Lease of Cheung Chau granted to Wong Wai Tsak Tong and for sub-lessees under the Block Crown Lease to hold directly from the Crown.
- 2
A Chinese secret society or gang.
Etymology
From Cantonese 堂 (tong⁴).
noun
- 1
Variant of tongueobsoleteObsolete spelling of tongue.
Forms
- plural
- tongs
- past tense
- tonged
- past participle
- tonged
- present participle
- tonging
- third person singular
- tongs
tong · An instrument or tool used for manipulating things in a fire without touching them with the hands.
Tong · A surname.tongue · The flexible muscular organ in the mouth that is used to move…Tongue · A village by the Kyle of Tongue in Sutherland, Highland…