ENGLISH DICTIONARY

Tongs

Definition, Meaning & Examples

Pronunciation /tɒŋz/ · Part of speech noun

Quick meaning: Tongs is a noun meaning plural of tong (“instrument”).

Meaning

plural of tong (“instrument”).

More Meanings

  1. third-person singular simple present indicative of tong
  2. plural of tong (“Chinese secret society”)
  3. An instrument or tool used for picking things up without touching them with the hands or fingers, consisting of two slats or grips hinged at the end or in the middle, and sometimes including a spring to open the grips.
  4. (by extension) A large scissors-like two-piece center-hinged forged-iron implement with oval-loop handles and with pointed tips turned inward (in the same plane as and perpendicular to the handles) to facilitate lifting and carrying a block of ice. Often called ice tongs.

Example Sentences

There was also hairdressing: hairdressing, too, really was hairdressing in those times — no running a comb through it and that was that. It was curled, frizzed, waved, put in curlers overnight, waved with hot tongs;[…].

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include tweezers, pincers, pliers, calipers, forceps, mittens.

Related Dictionary Tools

Sources & Attribution

FreeDictionaryAPI.com / Wiktionary · Original source · CC BY-SA 4.0

Dictionary data is provided by FreeDictionaryAPI.com and sourced from Wiktionary under its stated license.