tongue (tongues plural )
1 n-count Your tongue is the soft movable part inside your mouth which you use for tasting, eating, and speaking.
usu poss N
I walked over to the mirror and stuck my tongue out..., She ran her tongue around her lips.
2 n-count You can use tongue to refer to the kind of things that a person says.
usu supp N
She had a nasty tongue, but I liked her.
3 n-count A tongue is a language.
LITERARY
(=language)
The French feel passionately about their native tongue.
→
mother tongue
4 n-var Tongue is the cooked tongue of an ox or sheep. It is usually eaten cold.
5 n-count The tongue of a shoe or boot is the piece of leather which is underneath the laces.
6 n-count A tongue of something such as fire or land is a long thin piece of it.
LITERARY N of n
A yellow tongue of flame shot upwards.
7 A tongue-in-cheek remark or attitude is not serious, although it may seem to be.
tongue in cheek phrase PHR n, v-link PHR, PHR after v
...a lighthearted, tongue-in-cheek approach...
8 If you hold your tongue, you do not say anything even though you might want to or be expected to, because it is the wrong time to say it.
hold your tongue phrase V inflects
Douglas held his tongue, preferring not to speak out on a politically sensitive issue.
9 If you describe something you said as a slip of the tongue, you mean that you said it by mistake.
a slip of the tongue phrase slip inflects
At one stage he referred to Anna as John's fiancée, but later said that was a slip of the tongue.
10 →
to bite your tongue →
bite
mother tongue (mother tongues plural ), mother-tongue Your mother tongue is the language that you learn from your parents when you are a baby. n-count oft poss N
(=native tongue)
sharp tongue (sharp tongues plural )If you say that someone has a sharp tongue, you are critical of the fact that they say things which are unkind though often clever. n-count
(disapproval)
Despite her sharp tongue, she inspires loyalty from her friends.
tongue-in-cheek
→
tongue
tongue-lashing (tongue-lashings plural ), tongue lashing If someone gives you a tongue-lashing, they shout at you or criticize you in a very forceful way.
INFORMAL n-count
After a cruel tongue lashing, he threw the girl out of the group.
tongue-tied
If someone is tongue-tied, they are unable to say anything because they feel shy or nervous. adj usu v-link ADJ
In their presence I became self-conscious and tongue-tied.
tongue-twister (tongue-twisters plural ), tongue twister A tongue-twister is a sentence or expression which is very difficult to say properly, especially when you try to say it quickly. An example of a tongue-twister is `Red leather, yellow leather'. n-count
