| tongue | 1. <anatomy> An organ situated in the floor of the mouth of most vertebrates and connected with the hyoid arch. The tongue is usually muscular, mobile, and free at one extremity, and in man other mammals is the principal organ of taste, aids in the prehension of food, in swallowing, and in modifying the voice as in speech. "To make his English sweet upon his tongue." (Chaucer) 2. The power of articulate utterance; speech. "Parrots imitating human tongue." (Dryden) 3. Discourse; fluency of speech or expression. "Much tongue and much judgment seldom go together." (L. Estrange) 4. Honorable discourse; eulogy. "She was born noble; let that title find her a private grave, but neither tongue nor honor." (Beau. & Fl) 5. A language; the whole sum of words used by a particular nation; as, the English tongue. "Whose tongue thou shalt not understand." (Deut. Xxviii. 49) "To speak all tongues." (Milton) 6. Speech; words or declarations only; opposed to thoughts or actions. "My little children, let us love in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth." (1 John III. 18) 7. A people having a distinct language. "A will gather all nations and tongues." (Isa. Lxvi. 18) 8. <zoology> The lingual ribbon, or odontophore, of a mollusk. The proboscis of a moth or a butterfly. The lingua of an insect. 9. <zoology> Any small sole. 10. That which is considered as resembing an animal's tongue, in position or form. Specifically: A projection, or slender appendage or fixture; as, the tongue of a buckle, or of a balance. A projection on the side, as of a board, which fits into a groove. A point, or long, narrow strip of land, projecting from the mainland into a sea or a lake. The pole of a vehicle; especially, the pole of an ox cart, to the end of which the oxen are yoked. The clapper of a bell. A sort piece of rope spliced into the upper part of standing backstays, etc.; also. The upper main piece of a mast composed of several pieces. Same as Reed. To hold the tongue, to be silent. <anatomy> Tongue bone, the hyoid bone. Tongue grafting. See Grafting. Synonym: Language, speech, expression. See Language. Origin: OE. Tunge, tonge, AS. Tunge; akin to OFries. Tunge, D. Tong, OS. Tunga, G. Zunge, OHG. Zunga, Icel. & Sw. Tunga, Dan tunge, Goth. Tug, OL. Dingua, L. Lingua. 243 Cf.Language, Lingo. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
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| tongue bone | <anatomy> A U-shaped bone lying between the mandible and the larynx, suspended from the styloid processes by slender stylohyoid ligaments. See: hyoid apparatus. Synonym: os hyoideum, lingual bone, tongue bone. (05 Mar 2000) |
| tongue crib | An appliance used to control visceral (infantile) swallowing and tongue thrusting and to encourage the mature or somatic tongue posture and function. (05 Mar 2000) |
| tongue depressor | An instrument with a broad flat extremity used for pressing down the tongue to facilitate examination of the oral cavity and pharynx. (05 Mar 2000) |
| tongue flap | A flap derived from the tongue; used to close a defect in an adjacent part, such as the lip or palate. Synonym: lingual flap. (05 Mar 2000) |
| tongue habits | Acquired responses regularly manifested by tongue movement or positioning. (12 Dec 1998) |
| tongue, hairy | A benign condition of the tongue characterised by hypertrophy of the filiform papillae that give the dorsum of the tongue a furry appearance. The colour of the elongated papillae varies from yellowish white to brown or black, depending upon staining by substances such as tobacco, food, or drugs. (12 Dec 1998) |
| tongue of cerebellum | A tongue-shaped sequence of flattened cerebellar folia forming the anterior (or superior) extreme of the cerebellar vermis, extending forward on the surface of the superior medullary velum between the two emerging superior cerebellar peduncles. Synonym: lingula cerebelli, lingua cerebelli, tongue of cerebellum. (05 Mar 2000) |
| tongue phenomenon | <clinical sign> In latent tetany, tapping the tongue causes its depression with a concave dorsum. Synonym: tongue phenomenon. (05 Mar 2000) |
| tongue-shaped | <botany> Shaped like a tongue; specifically, linear or oblong, and fleshy, blunt at the end, and convex beneath; as, a tongue-shaped leaf. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| tongue-swallowing | A slipping back of the tongue against the pharynx, causing choking. (05 Mar 2000) |
| tongue thrust | The infantile pattern of the suckle-swallow movement in which the tongue is placed between the incisor teeth or the alveolar ridges during the initial stage of swallowing, resulting sometimes in an anterior open bite. (05 Mar 2000) |
| tongue-tie | <medicine> Impeded motion of the tongue because of the shortness of the fraenum, or of the adhesion of its margins to the gums. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| transverse muscle of tongue | An intrinsic muscle of the tongue, the fibres of which arise from the septum and radiate to the dorsum and sides; action, decreases lateral dimension of the tongue; nerve supply, hypoglossal for motor, lingual for sensory. Synonym: musculus transversus linguae. (05 Mar 2000) |
| fissured tongue | A painless condition of the tongue characterised by numerous grooves or furrows on the dorsal surface. Synonym: grooved tongue, lingua fissurata, lingua plicata, scrotal tongue. (05 Mar 2000) |