Skip navigation.

tang - What does it mean?

Definition of 'tang'

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl)

Noun

(en-noun)
  • (obsolete) tongue
  • * 1667 , , Sauny the Scot: Or, the Taming of the Shrew , Act V,
  • Sauny Hear ye, sir; could not ye mistake, and pull her tang out instead of her teeth?
  • A refreshingly sharp aroma or flavor
  • * 1904 ,
  • The miraculous air, heady with ozone and made memorably sweet by leagues of wild flowerets, gave tang and savour to the breath.
  • A strong or offensive taste; especially, a taste of something extraneous to the thing itself.
  • Wine or cider has a tang of the cask.
  • (figuratively) A sharp, specific flavor or tinge
  • * Fuller
  • Such proceedings had a strong tang of tyranny.
  • * Jeffrey
  • a cant of philosophism, and a tang of party politics
  • * 1913 ,
  • What, was it I who bared my heart / Through unrelenting years, / And knew the sting of misery's dart, / The tang of sorrow's tears?
  • A projecting part of an object by means of which it is secured to a handle, or to some other part; anything resembling a tongue in form or position
  • The part of a knife, fork, file, or other small instrument, which is inserted into the handle
  • The projecting part of the breech of a musket barrel, by which the barrel is secured to the stock
  • The part of a sword blade to which the handle is fastened
  • The tongue of a buckle
  • A group of saltwater fish from the Acanthuridae family, especially the genus, also known as the surgeonfish.
  • Synonyms
    * bite * piquancy * spiciness
    Antonyms
    * blandness * dullness
    Derived terms
    * tangy * clown tang * purple tang * Red Sea sailfin tang (rel-mid) * sohal tang * spotted unicorn tang * yellow tang (rel-bottom)
    See also
    *

    Etymology 2

    imitative

    Noun

    (en-noun)
  • A sharp, twanging sound; an unpleasant tone; a twang
  • Verb

    (en-verb)
  • (dated|beekeeping) To strike two metal objects together loudly in order to persuade a swarm of honeybees to land so it may be captured by the beekeeper.Eva Crane, The World History of Beekeeping and Honey Hunting'', Taylor & Francis (1999), ISBN 0415924677, page 239.Hilda M. Ransome, ''The Sacred Bee in Ancient Times and Folklore , Courier Dover Publications (2004), ISBN 048643494X, page 225.
  • To make a ringing sound; to ring.
  • Let thy tongue tang arguments of state. — Shakespeare.

    Etymology 3

    Probably of Scandinavian origin; compare Danish

    Noun

    (en-noun)
  • (rare) A coarse blackish seaweed (Ascophyllum nodosum )
  • Etymology 4

    From poontang by shortening

    Noun

    (en-noun)
  • The vagina; intercourse with a woman
  • * 2002 , Lynn Breedlove, Godspeed , St. Martin's Griffin, ISBN 0-312-31363-2, page 9,
  • The guys like to look at her tang , because that's how they are

    References

    Anagrams

    * ----

    Similar to 'tang'

    thing, twang, thong, tong, tung, thang, tying, ting, tmg