tong
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tong¹
- /tɒŋ/ UK
- /tɔŋ/ US
- /tɑŋ/ cot caught merger
Sounds like tongue (some Northern English accents) · Rhymes with -ɒŋ
Where it comes from
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”).
noun tongs
- 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?
verb tongs · tonging · tonged
- To use tongs.
- To grab, manipulate or transport something using tongs.
tong²
- /tɒŋ/ UK
- /tɔŋ/ US
- /tɑŋ/ cot caught merger
Sounds like tongue (some Northern English accents) · Rhymes with -ɒŋ
Where it comes from
From Cantonese 堂 (tong⁴).
noun tongs
- 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.
- A Chinese secret society or gang.
tong³
- /tɒŋ/ UK
- /tɔŋ/ US
- /tɑŋ/ cot caught merger
Sounds like tongue (some Northern English accents) · Rhymes with -ɒŋ
noun tongs
- Obsolete spelling of tongue Or plaine and perfite way of teachyng children, to vnderstand, write, and speake, the Latin tong, but specially purposed for the priuate brynging vp of youth in Ientlemen and Noble mens houses, and commodious also for all such, as haue forgot the Latin tonge, and would, by themselues, without a Scho
Tong⁴
Where it comes from
For the surname: Borrowed from Cantonese 湯／汤 (tong1), Cantonese 唐 (tong4), Mandarin 佟 (Tóng), Mandarin 童 (Tóng), etc.
proper noun Tongs
- A surname.
- A hamlet in Headcorn parish, Maidstone district, Kent, England (OS grid ref TQ8346).
- A village and civil parish in eastern Shropshire, England (OS grid ref SJ7907).
- A small village in the Metropolitan Borough of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England (OS grid ref SE2230).
- A village north of Stornoway, Isle of Lewis, Western Isles council area, Scotland (OS grid ref NB4436).
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: pool, camber, pond, hall, tang, soup, ki, sugar, bing, mong, tung, kung, reunification, child, jun, church
Translations
Every language
noun tool
| Español | tenaza |
|---|---|
| 日本語 | トング tongu |
| 中文 | 鉗子 /钳子 qiánzi, 夾具 /夹具 jiājù, 鋏子 /铗子 jiāzi, 夹子 jiāzi, jiázi |
| हिन्दी | चिमटा cimṭā |
| Português | tenaz |
| Français | pince |
| Deutsch | Greifzange |
| Italiano | pinza, tenaglia, molla |
| Română | clește |
| Русский | ками́нные щипцы́ kamínnyje ščipcý |
| Tiếng Việt | kìm, kẹp |
verb to use tongs
| Español | usar tenaza |
|---|---|
| 中文 | 鉗起 /钳起, 夾起 /夹起 |
| Português | atazanar, atanazar, atenazar |
| Français | pincer |
| Deutsch | mit einer Zange halten |
| Italiano | pinzare, attanagliare |
| Русский | испо́льзовать щипцы́ ispólʹzovatʹ ščipcý |
| Tiếng Việt | dùng kìm, dùng kẹp |
verb to grab, manipulate or transport something using tongs
| Español | usar tenaza |
|---|---|
| 中文 | 钳起 |
| Português | atazanar, atanazar, atenazar |
| Français | pincer |
| Deutsch | mit einer Zange greifen |
| Italiano | afferrare, attanagliare, abbrancare, aggranfiare |
| Русский | захвати́ть щипца́ми zaxvatítʹ ščipcámi |
| Tiếng Việt | kẹp |
Talk about this word "tong." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/tong. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. tong. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/tong "tong." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/tong.Cite this
@misc{tong_2026,
title = {tong},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/tong},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
