Tongue : (noun)
1: a mobile mass of muscular tissue covered with mucous
membrane and located in the oral cavity [syn: lingua,
glossa, clapper]
2: a human written or spoken language used by a community;
opposed to e.g. a computer language [syn: natural
language] [ant: artificial language]
3: any long thin projection that is transient; "tongues of
flame licked at the walls"; "rifles exploded quick knives
of fire into the dark" [syn: knife]
4: a manner of speaking; "he spoke with a thick tongue"; "she
has a glib tongue"
5: a narrow strip of land that juts out into the sea [syn: spit]
6: the tongue of certain animals used as meat
7: the flap of material under the laces of a shoe or boot
8: metal striker that hangs inside a bell and makes a sound by
hitting the side [syn: clapper]
(verb)
1: articulate by tonguing, as when playing wind instruments
2: lick or explore with the tongue
Based on WordNet 2.0
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Tongue : \Tongue\, n. [OE. tunge, tonge, AS. tunge; akin to
OFries. tunge, D. tong, OS. tunga, G. zunge, OHG. zunga,
Icel. & Sw. tunga, Dan tunge, Goth. tugg[=o], OL. dingua, L.
lingua. [root]243 Cf.{Language, Lingo. ]
1. (Anat.) an organ situated in the floor of the mouth of
most vertebrates and connected with the hyoid arch.
Note: The tongue is usually muscular, mobile, and free at one
extremity, and in man other mammals is the principal
organ of taste, aids in the prehension of food, in
swallowing, and in modifying the voice as in speech.
To make his English sweet upon his tongue.
--Chaucer.
2. The power of articulate utterance; speech.
Parrots imitating human tongue. --Dryden.
3. Discourse; fluency of speech or expression.
Much tongue and much judgment seldom go together.
--L. Estrange.
4. Honorable discourse; eulogy. [Obs.]
She was born noble; let that title find her a
private grave, but neither tongue nor honor. --Beau.
& Fl.
5. A language; the whole sum of words used by a particular
nation; as, the English tongue. --Chaucer.
Whose tongue thou shalt not understand. --Deut.
xxviii. 49.
To speak all tongues. --Milton.
6. Speech; words or declarations only; -- opposed to thoughts
or actions.
My little children, let us love in word, neither in
tongue, but in deed and in truth. --1 John iii.
18.
7. A people having a distinct language.
A will gather all nations and tongues. --Isa. lxvi.
18.
8. (Zo["o]l.)
(a) The lingual ribbon, or odontophore, of a mollusk.
(b) The proboscis of a moth or a butterfly.
(c) The lingua of an insect.
9. (Zo["o]l.) Any small sole.
10. That which is considered as resembing an animal's tongue,
in position or form. Specifically:
(a) A projection, or slender appendage or fixture; as,
the tongue of a buckle, or of a balance.
Based on Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
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Tongue : \Tongue\, v. i.
1. To talk; to prate. --Dryden.
2. (Mus.) To use the tongue in forming the notes, as in
playing the flute and some other wind instruments.
Based on Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
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Tongue : \Tongue\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Tongued; p. pr. & vb. n.
Tonguing.]
1. To speak; to utter. ``Such stuff as madmen tongue.''
--Shak.
2. To chide; to scold.
How might she tongue me. --Shak.
3. (Mus.) To modulate or modify with the tongue, as notes, in
playing the flute and some other wind instruments.
4. To join means of a tongue and grove; as, to tongue boards
together.
Based on Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
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Radula \Rad"u*la\, n.; pl. Radul[ae]. [L., a scraper, fr.
radere to scrape.] (Zo["o]l.)
The chitinous ribbon bearing the teeth of mollusks; -- called
also lingual ribbon, and tongue. See Odontophore.
Based on Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
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Tongue : Tongue: The tongue is a strong muscle anchored to the floor of the mouth. It is covered by the lingual membrane which has special areas to detect tastes.
The tongue is composed of muscles attached to the lower jaw and to the hyoid bone (a small, U-shaped bone that lies deep in the muscles at the back of the tongue) above the larynx.
On the top surface of the tongue there are small nodules called papillae that give the tongue its rough texture. Between the papillae at the sides and base of the tongue, there are small bulb-like
structures that are the taste buds. The muscle fibers of the tongue are heavily supplied with nerves.
Babies have more taste buds than adults and they have these almost everywhere in the mouth, including the cheeks.
The tongue aids in the formation of the sounds of speech and coordinates its movements to aid in swallowing.
The adjective for tongue is "lingual". So the papillae of the tongue are the lingual papillae.
Based on Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
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