tong

See also: tōng, tóng, tǒng, tòng, and töng

English

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /tɒŋ/
• Rhymes: -ɒŋ

Etymology 1

From Old English tange, from a Germanic root. Cognate to Old Norse tǫng (modern Icelandic töng), Old High German zanga (modern German Zange). Other cognates include Sanskrit दशति (daśati, “to bite”) and Albanian dang (“bite, nip”).

Noun

tong (plural tongs)

1. An instrument or tool used for manipulating things in a fire without touching them with the hands.
   • 1998, Alberdina Houtman, Marcel Poorthuis, Joshua Schwartz (editors), Sanctity of time and space in tradition and modernity, page 232:

     […] 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?

Translations

An instrument or tool used for manipulating things in a fire without touching them with the hands

• Arabic: please add this translation if you can
• Armenian: ունելի (uneli), աքցան (akʿcʿan)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 鉗子, 钳子 (qiánzi), 夾具, 夹具 (jiājù), 鋏子, 铗子 (jiāzi)

• Czech: please add this translation if you can
• Dutch: please add this translation if you can
• French: please add this translation if you can
• German: please add this translation if you can

• Hindi: please add this translation if you can
• Italian: please add this translation if you can
• Japanese: please add this translation if you can
• Korean: please add this translation if you can
• Portuguese: tenaz (pt) f
• Russian: каминные щипцы m pl (kamínnyje ščipcý)
• Spanish: tenaza f
• Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can

Verb

tong (third-person singular simple present tongs, present participle tonging, simple past and past participle tonged)

1. (intransitive) To use tongs.
2. (transitive) To grab, manipulate or transport something using tongs.

Translations

to use tongs

• Arabic: please add this translation if you can
• Armenian: ունելի օգտագործել (uneli ōgtagorcel), աքցան օգտագործել (akʿcʿan ōgtagorcel)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Czech: please add this translation if you can
• Dutch: please add this translation if you can
• French: please add this translation if you can
• German: please add this translation if you can

• Hindi: please add this translation if you can
• Italian: please add this translation if you can
• Japanese: please add this translation if you can
• Korean: please add this translation if you can
• Portuguese: atazanar, atanazar, atenazar (pt)
• Russian: использовать щипцы (ispól’zovat’ ščipcý)
• Spanish: usar tenaza
• Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can

to grab, manipulate or transport something using tongs

• Arabic: please add this translation if you can
• Armenian: ունելիով վերցնել (uneliov vercʿnel), աքցանով վերցնել (akʿcʿanov vercʿnel)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Czech: please add this translation if you can
• Dutch: please add this translation if you can
• French: please add this translation if you can
• German: please add this translation if you can

• Hindi: please add this translation if you can
• Italian: please add this translation if you can
• Japanese: please add this translation if you can
• Korean: please add this translation if you can
• Portuguese: atazanar, atanazar, atenazar (pt)
• Russian: захватить щипцами (zaxvatít’ ščipcámi)
• Spanish: usar tenaza
• Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can

See also

• tongs

Etymology 2

From Cantonese, 堂.

Noun

tong (plural tongs)

1. A Chinese secret society or gang.

Translations

secret society

• Cantonese: 堂 (Yale: tong4)

See also

• triad
• yakuza

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Dutch

Wikipedia ^nl

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɔŋ

• audio

  (file)

• IPA^(key): /tɔŋ/

Etymology 1

From Old Dutch tunga, from Proto-Germanic *tungǭ, from Proto-Indo-European *dn̥ǵʰwéh₂s. Compare West Frisian tonge, English tongue, German Zunge, Danish tunge.

Noun

tong f (plural tongen, diminutive tongetje n)

1. (anatomy) tongue

Etymology 2

Noun

tong m (plural tongen, diminutive tongetje n)

1. A kind of flatfish, the common sole, Solea solea.

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Mandarin

Romanization

tong

1. Nonstandard spelling of tōng.
2. Nonstandard spelling of tóng.
3. Nonstandard spelling of tǒng.
4. Nonstandard spelling of tòng.

Usage notes

• English transcriptions of Mandarin speech often fail to distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without the appropriate indication of tone.