tongs, n. pl.
(tɒŋz)
Forms: α. sing. 1 tang, 1–5 tange; pl. 1 tangan, 2–4 tangen; 4 tangs, (5 tangys, -is, tang(g)es, 6 Sc. tang(g)is, taingis, tayngis), 6– Sc. tangs, tayngs; 6 Sc. double pl. tangisis. β. sing. 1 tǫng, 3–5 tonge, (4 toenge, 5 tongge), (9 tong); pl. 3 tongen; 4 tunges, 4–5 tongys, 5 toonges, tongges, 5–7 tonges, (6 tonkes, thounges, 7 tungs), 7–8 tongues, 5– tongs.
[OE. tang (str. f.), tange (wk. f.) = OLG. tanga (MDu. tanghe, Du. tang), OFris. tange, OHG. zanga str. fem. (MHG., Ger. zange), ON. tǫng str. f.,:—*tangu (Norw. tong, Swed. tång, Da. tang):—OTeut. *tang{omacacu}- (also, with weak inflexion, tang{omacacu}n-):—Indo-Eur. *dank{amacacu}-, referred to the root *dak-, dank- to bite (Skr. dam{cced}, da{cced}, Gr. δάκνειν); cf. OHG. zangar, MLG., LG. tanger, MDu. tangher sharp, biting.]
1. An implement consisting of two limbs or ‘legs’ connected by a hinge, pivot, or spring, by means of which their lower ends are brought together so as to grasp and take up objects which it is impossible or inconvenient to lift with the hand. Examples of different forms are seen in a smith's tongs, domestic fire-tongs, and sugar-tongs.
A particular use or shape is often indicated by a prefixed word, as blacksmith's t., curling-t., gas-fitter's t., pipe t., sugar-t. When not otherwise particularized usually applied to fire-tongs. In early quots. often not distinguishable in sense from pincers or forceps.
† a. in sing. form tong. Obs.
| c 725 Corpus Gloss. (O.E.T.) 905 Forceps, tong. a 1000 Ags. Gloss. in Wr.-Wülcker 218/37 Delebra, tang. Ibid. 272/34 Forceps, tang. c 1050 Byrhtferth's Handboc in Anglia (1885) VIII. 325 Mid his gyldenan tange. a 1250 Owl & Night. 156 Þu twengest þar mid so doþ a tonge. c 1305 St. Dunstan 77 in E.E.P. (1862) 36 He droȝ forþ his tonge And leide in þe hote fur. c 1380 Sir Ferumb. 1308, & het to brynge wiþ him anon anuylt, tange, & slegge. 1382 Wyclif Isa. vi. 6 A cole, that with the toenge [1388 a tonge] he toc fro the auter. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 496/2 Tongge, fyyr instrument. c 1483 Caxton Dialogues 8/9 Ung estenelle, ung greyl, a tonge, a gredyron. |
b. in
pl. form with plural construction: the usual current use.
pair of tongs is used when qualification by a numeral or an indefinite article is wanted.
| α c 890 tr. Bæda's Hist. v. xiii. [xii.] (1890) 428 Hæfdon heo fyrene eaᵹan..ond fyrene tangan him on handa hæfdon. c 1000 ælfric Hom. II. 352 Woldon me ᵹelæccan mid heora byrnendum tangum. c 1300 Tangen [see quot. c 1290 in β]. 1384–5 Durham Acc. Rolls (Surtees) 265, j par de Tangs. 1412–13 Ibid. 610, j pare belowys et tangys empt. c 1425 Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 657/11 Hec forceps, tangges. 1483 Cath. Angl. 378/1 A paire of Tanges, jn plurali numero, tenalia. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems lii. 14 The wyff..That with the taingis wald brack his schinnis. 1547 Reg. Mag. Sig. Scot. 20 note, Tua pair of tayngis. 1595 Duncan App. Etym. (E.D.S.), Forceps, tayngs. 1718 Ramsay Christ's Kirk Gr. iii. iv, Her aunt a pair of tangs fush in. 1816 J. Boswell, etc. Justiciary Opera 5 To seize on anither man's geer (As the tangs ance a Highlandman fand). 1825 Jamieson s.v. Tangs, ‘You fand that whar the Highlandman fand the tangs’ S. Prov. [Cf. quot. 1721 in β.] |
| β c 1290 St. Brendan 480 in S. Eng. Leg. I. 233 With tongen [Harl. MS. 2277 (c 1300) tangen] and with hameres brenninde mani on. 1352–3 Ely Sacr. Rolls (1907) II. 155 In j pari de Tongys pro plumbario. 1392–3 Earl Derby's Exp. (Camden) 158 Pro tunges et aliis necessariis. 1426 Lydg. De Guil. Pilgr. 16144 And with thy Toonges pynche hem so. 1483 Act 1 Rich. III, c. 12 §2 Andyrons, Cobbardes, Tongges, Fireforkes. 1495 Naval Acc. Hen. VII (1896) 205 Tongges of yron..j payre. 1530 Palsgr. 251/1 Payre of tonges, tenailles. Ibid., Payre of smythes tonges, gresses. 1531 Rec. St. Mary at Hill 37 A payre of andi[r]onis and a payre of tonkes with a fyer Raike. 1586 Rates of Custome E viij b, Tongs for fire the dosen vj. s. 1599 Acc. Bk. W. Wray in Antiquary XXXII. 243 One pair of thounges. 1605 Rowlands Hell's Broke Loose 47 Their flesh torne from the bones with fiery tongs. 1614 Liber Depos. Archidiaconat. Colcestr. lf. 71 (MS.) To saye he would laye her on the pate with the tungs. 1663 Pepys Diary 7 Sept., Dogs, tongues, and shovells, for my wife's closett. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iv. 255 With Tongs they turn the Steel. 1721 Kelly Scot. Prov. 383 You found it where the Highland Man found the Tongs. 1815 J. Smith Panorama Sc. & Art II. 171 Grasping the tongs with the right hand a little below the middle. 1845 James Arrah Neil ii, He was as thin and spare, too, as a pair of tongs. |
c. In
pl. form
tongs const. as
sing.; with rare
pl. tongisis,
tongses, pairs of tongs. Chiefly
Sc.| 1489 Act. Dom. Conc. (1839) 132/1 Twa axis, a wowmill..a tangis, price xl d. 1542 Rec. Elgin (N. Spald. Cl. 1903) I. 71 The masterfull streking of Ellene Murray with ane tanggis. 1576 Reg. Mag. Sig. Scot. 691 note, 2 pair of tangisis, 3s. apiece. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. vii. (S.T.S.) II. 46 The rest of his body..the pynouris raue with an yrne tangs. 1708 Caldwell Papers (Maitl. Cl.) I. 216, I must also have a tongs and shovel. 1796 Burns On Life vii, Like a sheep-head on a tangs. 1849 W. Irving Crayon Misc. 254 A relic..which, if I recollect right, he pronounced to have been a tongs. |
d. in
sing. form
tong: One leg of a pair of tongs.
humorous nonce-use.
| 1862 Thackeray Philip xxxii, He keeps a tong to the present day, and speaks very satirically regarding that relic. 1864 Daily Tel. 26 Aug., With the half of a pair of tongs, or perhaps I should say with a tong, in his tiny fist. 1897 in Westm. Gaz. 7 Dec. 4/1 The beetle trotted down the kitchen tong. |
2. a. fig. and in phrases:
e.g. not to touch with a pair of tongs, expressing repugnance to have anything to do with.
| c 1386 Chaucer Pars. T. ¶481 Thanne stant Enuye and holdeth the hoote Iren vpon the herte of man with a peire of longe toonges of long rancour. 1579 Fulke Refut. Rastel 714 [It] maketh M. Rastel..to gnaw the tonges for anger. 1643 J. Caryl Expos. Job ii. 8 A man would scarce touch such an one with a pair of Tongs. a 1688 Bunyan Jerus. Sinner Saved (1886) 112 We are scarce for touching of the poor ones.., no not with a pair of tongs. 1828 Craven Gloss. s.v. Tangs, ‘He brades of a pair o' tangs’, this is applied to a person with long limbs. 1882 M. E. Braddon Mt. Royal III. vii. 136, I wouldn't touch it with a pair of tongs. |
b. As used in burlesque music.
| 1590 Shakes. Mids. N. iv. i. 32 Clowne. I haue a reasonable good eare in musicke. Let us haue the tongs and the bones. 1678 Rymer Trag. Last Age 139 The tintamar and twang of the Tongs and Jewstrumps. 1885 Dobson Sign of Lyre 123 Well, our immortal Shakespear owns The Oaf preferred the ‘Tongs and Bones’! |
c. snapping tongs, a game: see
quot.| 1844 Barnes Poems Rural Life Gloss., Snappen tongs, a game of forfeits..[played] in a room in which are seats for all but one,..when the tongs are snapped all run to sit down, and the one that fails to get a seat pays a forfeit. 1847 in Halliwell. |
d. Short for
sugar-tongs,
curling-tongs,
oyster-tongs: see these words; also
lazy-tongs.
| 1713 Lond. Gaz. No. 5086/3, 6 gilded Tea Spoons with Forks and Tongs. 1837 Thackeray Ravenswing i, He was twiddling the [curling-] tongs with which he had just operated on Walker. 1870 Standard 19 Oct., A party of Maryland oystermen were caught sinking their tongs into the Virginia beds. |
3. In various transferred and technical applications.
† a. Name for an ancient surgical forceps: see
quot. Obs. † b. A weeding-tool: see
quot. Obs. c. The pincer-like organs of a scorpion.
d. In a pile-engine, the forceps which grips the staple in the head of the ram.
e. In diamond-cutting, a stand having at its upper end a vice-like device for holding the dop in which the diamond is imbedded for cutting.
f. Railway. A pincer-like device for grasping the rail on which a vehicle is standing, thus holding it still (Forney
Car-builder's Dict. 1884).
g. ‘A name for pantaloons and roundabouts [short jackets] formerly in use in New England’ (Bartlett
Dict. Amer. 1848); a skeleton suit.
h. Oil Industry. A large pipe wrench used for making up or breaking out lengths of pipe or casing.
| a. c 1425 tr. Arderne's Treat. Fistula 35 Whiche y-do, be þe lure y-opned wiþ tonges so y-shape þat when þe vtward endes bene streyned togidre þe inner endes be opned & agaynward. |
| b. 1523 Fitzherb. Husb. §21 The chyefe instrument to wede with, is a paire of tonges made of wode, and in the farther ende it is nycked, to holde the wed faster. |
| c. 1608 Topsell Serpents 223 The sixt is like a Crabbe, and this is called by Elianus a flamant Scorpion, it is of a great body, and hath tonges and takers very solide and strong, like the Gramuell or Creuish. |
| d. 1776 G. Semple Building in Water 36 The Tongs are opened by the two inclined Planes. Ibid. 37 The Ram..with the Staple, that the Tongs take hold of. 1825 J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 310 Forceps or tongs are lowered down speedily, and instantly of themselves again lay hold of the ram and lift it up. |
| g. 1845 S. Judd Margaret i. vi, The boys dressed in ‘tongs’, a name for pantaloons or overalls, that had come into use. |
| h. 1922 F. M. Towl in D. T. Day Handbk. Petroleum Industry I. 411 When the friction becomes so great that this method cannot be used, the tongs are placed on the line. 1972 L. M. Harris Introd. Deepwater Floating Drilling Operations v. 46 The normal rig-floor tools, such as, tongs, slips, and small hand tools. |
4. Comb.:
tongs-carriage, a carriage which supports the tongs used in glass-making, foundry-work, and the like;
ˈtongsman, (
a)
= tongman; (
b)
Oil Industry, one who handles the large pipe wrench used for making up or breaking out lengths of pipe;
ˈtongman, one who uses the tongs in oyster-fishing (
U.S.).
| 1839 Ure Dict. Arts 590 Glass-making... Two powerful branches of iron united by a bolt, like two scissar blades,..form the tongs-carriage, which is mounted upon two wheels like a truck. 1887 Fisheries of U.S. Sect. v. II. 525 In midwinter, when the heavy planters are busy marketing their crops, the tongmen are idle, or are attending to their own little cove-beds. 1891 W. K. Brooks Oyster 140 They are exposed to the depredations of both tongmen and dredgers. 1891 Cent. Dict. (citing Davidson), Tongsman. 1974 China Reconstructs July 47/1 Before long he became a skilled tongsman. |