Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • transitive verb To seize, hold, or manipulate with tongs.
  • noun A Chinese association or political party.
  • noun An association or a secret society of Chinese in the United States, believed to be involved in organized crime.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun An old spelling of tongue.
  • noun One of a number of holding- and lifting-instruments of various forms.
  • noun [Tongs were formerly used in rough burlesque music:
  • noun In diamond-cutting, a two-footed wooden stand that has at one end a vise-like iron holder, into which the dop containing the diamond is fastened, holding the diamond against the wheel.
  • noun plural A device for anchoring the body of a car to the track when it is not in use.
  • noun plural Trousers.
  • To seize, hold, or take with tongs.
  • To handle or use tongs; capture something, as oysters, with tongs.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun obsolete Tongue.
  • noun In China, an association, secret society, or organization of any kind; in the United States, usually, a secret association of Chinese such as that of the highbinders; in the U. S. the tongs have been frequently associated with criminal activity and gang warfare.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun An instrument or tool used for manipulating things in a fire without touching them with the hands.
  • verb intransitive To use tongs.
  • verb transitive To grab, manipulate or transport something using tongs.
  • noun A Chinese secret society or gang.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Back-formation from tongs.]

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Cantonese tong4, assembly hall, familial relationship between cousins, from Middle Chinese tɦaŋ (also the source of Mandarin táng).]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

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").

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Cantonese.

Support

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Examples

  • Syempre after ten years eh naayos din tong computer namin ... acually matagal na ...

    Archive 2007-03-01 2007

  • Tinatamad nga lan kong magblog at gumawa ng layout kaya MERRY CHRISTMAS pa rin tong layout ko. .aahh ... wadeber ...

    Archive 2007-03-01 2007

  • Shankar Ganesh thinks .. though my ma tong is tamil, i know a little bit of hindi and i think the hindi version of your name is correct!

    Your Name in 5 Different Scripts 2007

  • The village corporation is managed by what the Chinese refer to as a tong.

    In The Shadow of The Cypress Thomas Steinbeck 2010

  • Jin Dan is the only way to reach fan lao huan tong, which is to transform old age to the health and purity of the baby state.

    Tao II Dr. 2010

  • Jin Dan is the only way to reach fan lao huan tong, which is to transform old age to the health and purity of the baby state.

    Tao II Dr. 2010

  • The village corporation is managed by what the Chinese refer to as a tong.

    In The Shadow of The Cypress Thomas Steinbeck 2010

  • Jin Dan is the only way to reach fan lao huan tong, which is to transform old age to the health and purity of the baby state.

    Tao II Dr. 2010

  • Jin Dan is the only way to reach fan lao huan tong, which is to transform old age to the health and purity of the baby state.

    Tao II Dr. 2010

  • As financial secretary in 2007, he handed out income tax rebates and property-rate waivers, earning him the nickname of "tong tong," a term for sweets, from the local press.

    BusinessWeek.com -- Top News 2011

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