Definition of tongue

• n. - an organ situated in the floor of the mouth of most vertebrates and connected with the hyoid arch.
• n. - The power of articulate utterance; speech.
• n. - Discourse; fluency of speech or expression.
• n. - Honorable discourse; eulogy.
• n. - A language; the whole sum of words used by a particular nation; as, the English tongue.
• n. - Speech; words or declarations only; -- opposed to thoughts or actions.
• n. - A people having a distinct language.
• n. - The lingual ribbon, or odontophore, of a mollusk.
• n. - The proboscis of a moth or a butterfly.
• n. - The lingua of an insect.
• n. - Any small sole.
• n. - That which is considered as resembing an animal's tongue, in position or form.
• n. - A projection, or slender appendage or fixture; as, the tongue of a buckle, or of a balance.
• n. - A projection on the side, as of a board, which fits into a groove.
• n. - A point, or long, narrow strip of land, projecting from the mainland into a sea or a lake.
• n. - The pole of a vehicle; especially, the pole of an ox cart, to the end of which the oxen are yoked.
• n. - The clapper of a bell.
• n. - A short piece of rope spliced into the upper part of standing backstays, etc.; also. the upper main piece of a mast composed of several pieces.
• n. - Same as Reed, n., 5.
• v. t. - To speak; to utter.
• v. t. - To chide; to scold.
• v. t. - To modulate or modify with the tongue, as notes, in playing the flute and some other wind instruments.
• v. t. - To join means of a tongue and grove; as, to tongue boards together.
• v. i. - To talk; to prate.
• v. i. - To use the tongue in forming the notes, as in playing the flute and some other wind instruments.