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Tongues
This nOde last updated April 19th,
2025 and is permanently morphing...
(first emerged September 17th,
2005)
tongue
tongue (tng) noun
1.a. The fleshy,
movable, muscular organ, attached in most vertebrates to the
floor of the mouth, that is the principal organ of taste, an
aid in chewing and swallowing, and, in human beings, an
important organ of speech. b. An analogous organ or part in
invertebrate animals, as in certain insects or mollusks.
2.The tongue of an
animal, such as a cow, used as food.
3.A spoken language or dialect.
4.a. Speech; talk: If
there is goodness in your heart, it will come to your tongue.
b. The act or power of speaking: She had no tongue to answer.
c. tongues. Speech or vocal sounds produced in a state
of religious ecstasy.
d. Style or quality of utterance: her sharp tongue.
5.The bark or baying of
a hunting dog that sees game: The dog gave tongue when the fox
came through the hedge.
6.Something resembling
a tongue in shape or function, as:. a. The vibrating end of a
reed in a wind instrument. b. A flame. c. The flap of material
under the laces or buckles of a shoe. d. A spit of land; a
promontory. e. A bell clapper. f. The harnessing pole attached
to the front axle of a horse-drawn vehicle.
7.A protruding strip
along the edge of a board that fits into a matching groove on the edge of
another board.
verb
tongued, tonguing,
tongues verb, transitive
1.Music. To separate or
articulate (notes played on a brass or wind instrument) by
shutting off the stream of air with the tongue.
2.To touch or lick with
the tongue.
3.a. To provide (a
board) with a tongue. b. To join by means of a tongue and
groove.
4.Archaic. To scold.
verb, intransitive
1.Music. To articulate
notes on a brass or wind instrument.
2.To project: a spit of
land tonguing into the bay.
- idiom.
hold (one's) tongue
To be or keep silent.
lose (one's) tongue
To lose the capacity to
speak, as from shock.
on the tip of (one's)
tongue
On the verge of being
recalled or expressed.
[Middle English, from Old English tunge.]
tonguing
tonguing (tngng) noun
Music.
Interruption of the wind stream through an
instrument by movement of the tongue in order to articulate
notes.
gift of tongues
gift of tongues (gft
v tngz) noun
An ecstatic utterance
that is partly or wholly unintelligible to hearers, especially
such an utterance considered as a charismatic gift in certain
christian congregations. Also called glossolalia,
speaking in tongues.
[From the Apostles' speaking in tongues in Acts 2:4.]
speak in tongues (verb)
speak: speak a
language, speak in tongues
practice sorcery: speak
mystically, speak in tongues, recite a spell, recite an
incantation, say the
magic word, make passes
practice occultism:
speak in tongues
Whether or not the world would be vastly
benefited by a total banishment from it of all intoxicating
drinks seems not now an open question. Three-fourths of mankind
confess the affirmative with their tongues, and I believe all
the rest acknowledge it in their hearts.
Abraham Lincoln (1809-65), U.S. president.
Speech, 22 Feb. 1842, Washingtonian Temperance Society,
Springfield, Ill. (published in The Collected Works of Abraham
Lincoln, vol. 1, ed. by Roy P. Basler, 1953).
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The tongue
* is the large bundle of muscles on the
floor of the mouth that manipulates food for chewing and
swallowing.
* is one of the organs of taste. Much of the surface of the
tongue is covered in taste buds.
* assists in forming the sounds of speech.
* also plays a major role in the tongue kiss and in oral sex.
* can be used as synonymous for language, e.g. mother tongue.
The tongue is made mainly of skeletal muscle
and is attached to the hyoid bone, mandible and the styloid processes of the temporal bone.
The muscles that attach the tongue are the extrinsic muscles of the tongue. Inside the tongue, there are four pairs of intrinsic muscles that can alter the shape of the tongue for talking and swallowing.
The dorsum (top side) of the tongue can be
divided into two parts, an oral part that lies mostly in the
mouth, and a pharyngeal part (posterior third of the tongue)
which faces backwards to the oropharynx. The two parts are
separated by a V-shaped groove,
the sulcus terminalis (or terminal sulcus).
The dorsal side of the anterior two-thirds (oral part) of the tongue is covered in taste buds (or papillae), and the tongue appears velvety and pink. There are four types of taste buds: filiform, fungiform, vallate and foliate. At the back of the oral part of the tongue there are 3-14 vallate papillae arranged in a V-shape in front of the sulcus terminalis.
There are no lingual papillae on the underside of the tongue. It is covered with a smooth mucous membrane, with a fold (the lingual frenulum) in the centre.
The upper side of the posterior tongue (pharyngeal part) has no visible taste buds, but it is bumpy because of the lymphatic follicles lying underneath. These follicles are known as the lingual tonsil.
Things related to the tongue are often called lingual which comes from the Latin word, or glossal which comes from the Greek word for tongue.
Extrinsic muscles of the tongue
There are four pairs of extrinsic muscles that act to move the
tongue, and these are attached to various bones of the head and
neck.
* Genioglossus - this muscle comes from the
genial tubercule of the mandible (lower jaw bone), and comprises
most of the bulk of the tongue.
* Hyoglossus - attached to the hyoid bone, ...
* Styloglossus - comes from the styloid process of the temporal
bone
* Palatoglossus -
Intrinsic muscles of the tongue
Four pairs of muscles run through the...
* Human anatomy
* Tongue-twister
* Tongue piercing
* Tongue splitting
* Vocal tract