tongue
noun uk/tʌŋ/ us/tʌŋ/
(MOUTH PART)
B1 [ C ]舌头
the large, soft piece of flesh in the mouth that you can move, and is used for tasting, speaking, etc.
I burned my tongue on some soup last night. 我昨晚喝汤时烫着了舌头。
[ U ]（用作食物的动物的）舌头，口条
the tongue of an animal, used as food
- More examples
- The tip of the tongue is sensitive to salt and sweet stimuli and the back of the tongue is sensitive to bitter stimuli.
- The horse rasped my hand with his tongue as I fed him the apple.
- The poet compares his lover's tongue to a razor blade.
- The doctor asked me to stick out my tongue and say 'aah'.
- The tour guide kept sticking out her tongue and licking her lips - it was very distracting!
(SHOE)
[ C ]舌状物（尤指鞋舌）
a part of an object that is tongue-shaped, especially the piece of material that is under the laces in a shoe
(LANGUAGE)
[ C ] literary语言
a language
immigrants struggling to learn a foreign tongue 艰难学习外语的移民
an ancient tongue 古老的语言
(STYLE OF EXPRESSION)
[ S ]说话方式
a person's way of expressing their ideas and feelings
She is a prolific writer with critical views and a sharp (= severe and critical) tongue. 她是一个多产的作家，观点尖锐，语言犀利。
Idioms
get your tongue around/round somethingidiom 正确发出（难读单词或短语）的音
to pronounce a difficult word or phrase
It's one language that I have real difficulty getting my tongue around. 这是一种我很难正确发音的语言。
loosen someone's tongueidiom 打开话匣子
to make someone speak more freely
A couple of glasses of champagne had loosened my tongue and I said things that perhaps I shouldn't have. 喝了几杯香槟酒后我的话就开始多了起来，可能说了一些不该说的话。
stick/put your tongue outidiom 吐舌头
to make a rude sign by putting the tongue outside the mouth
An old man was staring at her, so she stuck her tongue out at him. 一个老头正盯着她看，于是她朝他吐了吐舌头。
tongue in cheekidiom (also with your tongue in your cheek) 开玩笑地;说着玩地
If you say something tongue in cheek, you intend it to be understood as a joke, although you might appear to be serious.
He said that he was a huge fan of the president, although I suspect it was tongue in cheek. 他说自己对总统极为仰慕，而我认为他是在开玩笑。
tongues waggingidiom informal 说闲话，嚼舌
If what someone says or does starts tongues wagging, it causes other people to start talking and guessing things about their private lives.
Do you think if we leave the party together it will set/start tongues wagging? 你觉得如果我们俩一起离开聚会的话会惹人嚼舌头吗？
They tried to keep their affair secret, but it wasn't long before tongues began to wag. 他们试图不让别人知道他们的暧昧关系，但是不久就有了闲言碎语。