Meaning

(mostly plural) An instrument or tool used for manipulating things in a fire without touching them with the hands..

Definitions by Sense

1. (mostly plural) An instrument or tool used for manipulating things in a fire without touching them with the hands.
2. (intransitive) To use tongs.
3. (transitive) To grab, manipulate or transport something using tongs.
4. A Chinese lineage organization responsible for managing ancestral land.
5. A Chinese secret society or gang.
6. Obsolete spelling of tongue.

Example Sentences

[…] 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?

An Ordinance to provide for the termination of the Block Crown Lease of Cheung Chau granted to Wong Wai Tsak Tong and for sub-lessees under the Block Crown Lease to hold directly from the Crown.

Or plaine and perfite way of teachyng children, to vnderstand, write, and speake, the Latin tong, but specially purposed for the priuate brynging vp of youth in Ientlemen and Noble mens houses, and commodious also for all such, as haue forgot the Latin tonge, and would, by themselues, without a Scholemaster, in short tyme, and with small paines, recouer a sufficient habilitie, to vnderstand, write, and speake Latin.

Word Forms

• tongs
• tonging
• tonged

Related Words

When Should You Use Tong?

Use tong when its meaning, tone and grammar fit the full sentence. A synonym is not always a direct replacement.

Practice This Word

Frequently Asked Questions