as in languages
the stock of words, pronunciation, and grammar used by a people as their basic means of communication
he spoke in a tongue that I didn't understand
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Recent Examples of tongues
Zendaya kicked off Paris Fashion Week by sending tongues wagging in bridal white chic.
—
Raechal Shewfelt, Entertainment Weekly, 10 Mar. 2026
The scene also shows a table covered in tongues, implying the women removed Lupino’s tongue.
—Hanna Wickes, Charlotte Observer, 6 Mar. 2026
And so the buffalo were butchered and sold for their tongues and hides, and their bones were ground and used for fine china.
—Christine Peterson, Outdoor Life, 5 Mar. 2026
The movie positions itself as being fueled by a righteous, volcanic rage, down to a story line about a character who has women’s tongues cut out to ensure their silence about his abuses.
—Alison Willmore, Vulture, 5 Mar. 2026
Those tongues are basically built-in grooming kits.
—Popular Science Team, Popular Science, 27 Feb. 2026
Perennials like brittlebush, creosote and the little flame tongues of chuparosa are out.
—Roger Naylor, AZCentral.com, 21 Feb. 2026
The bright red, tubular flowers attract hummingbirds, whose long beaks and tongues perfectly suit the flower shape.
—Anne Readel, Better Homes & Gardens, 20 Feb. 2026
Her debut turn alongside Jeremy Renner as a seductive escort got industry tongues wagging.
—Alex Ritman, Variety, 15 Feb. 2026
Raechal Shewfelt, Entertainment Weekly, 10 Mar. 2026
The scene also shows a table covered in tongues, implying the women removed Lupino’s tongue.
—Hanna Wickes, Charlotte Observer, 6 Mar. 2026
And so the buffalo were butchered and sold for their tongues and hides, and their bones were ground and used for fine china.
—Christine Peterson, Outdoor Life, 5 Mar. 2026
The movie positions itself as being fueled by a righteous, volcanic rage, down to a story line about a character who has women’s tongues cut out to ensure their silence about his abuses.
—Alison Willmore, Vulture, 5 Mar. 2026
Those tongues are basically built-in grooming kits.
—Popular Science Team, Popular Science, 27 Feb. 2026
Perennials like brittlebush, creosote and the little flame tongues of chuparosa are out.
—Roger Naylor, AZCentral.com, 21 Feb. 2026
The bright red, tubular flowers attract hummingbirds, whose long beaks and tongues perfectly suit the flower shape.
—Anne Readel, Better Homes & Gardens, 20 Feb. 2026
Her debut turn alongside Jeremy Renner as a seductive escort got industry tongues wagging.
—Alex Ritman, Variety, 15 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tongues
Noun
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These short-form, mobile-first series are designed for speed, shareability and cultural specificity, with local casts and languages forming the backbone of production.—
Faye Bradley,
Variety,
17 Mar. 2026
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The creator, who used a pseudonym, helpfully carved these guidelines on the stones in eight different languages.—
AJ Willingham,
AJC.com,
17 Mar. 2026
Noun
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In the October 2025 study that followed families over time, children who spent more time with digital media at age 2 tended to have smaller vocabularies at age 3, regardless of the child’s temperament or the caregiver’s personality traits.—
Miriam Fauzia,
Dallas Morning News,
2 Mar. 2026
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Teams were asked to learn new interfaces, adopt new vocabularies, and take responsibility for outputs whose behavior remained probabilistic rather than deterministic.—
Alexander Puutio,
Forbes.com,
28 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Not between English and other languages but between the dialects spoken by different corners of the industry.—
Amber Nigam,
Harvard Business Review,
11 Mar. 2026
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Most Kurds are Sunni Muslims, but the Kurdish population has diverse religious, cultural, social and political traditions, as well as a variety of dialects of the Kurdish language.—
Lauren Kent,
CNN Money,
5 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Those books introduced me to a vision of American teenage life and taught me the rhythms and idioms of American English, nuances that would later replace my Britishisms and shape my career as a journalist.—
Faith Karimi,
CNN Money,
17 Feb. 2026
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Like fellow North Carolinians Wednesday and MJ Lenderman—local stars descended from the likes of Lucinda Williams and Drive-By Truckers—Dowdy carves complex new visions into the idioms of his upbringing.—
Jenn Pelly,
Time,
4 Dec. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Tongues.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tongues. Accessed 18 Mar. 2026.
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