▪ I. thong, n.
(θɒŋ)
Forms: α. 1 ðwong, ðuong, ðwangc, þwæng, ðuuencg, 1–3 þwang; 4 thuang, 4–5 (Sc. and north. –9) thwang (5 thwange, twange, 6 thwangue), 5–7 Sc. thwayng (dial. 7–9 (with hw, wh-, for þw-) whaing, whang). β. 3–4 þwong, þuong(e, 4–5 thwong(e (dial. twonge). γ. 3–5 þong, 4– thong, (4–5 þonge, thongh, 6–7 thonge, 6 thongue). δ. 5 thownge, thowyng; dial. 8–9 thung, thunk, thonk.
[OE. þwang, þwǫng str. masc. (also fem.); also, ONorthumb. pl. ðuuencgu, N. Anglian þwænga, agreeing with ON. þvengr (:—þvaŋgi{supz}); all from ablaut stem *þwing-, *þwang-, *þwung-, to restrain:—Indo-Eur. root *twenk: cf. Ger. zwingen: see twing, twinge v., and cf. the dial. form whang.]
1. a. A narrow strip of hide or leather, for use as a lace, cord, band, strap, or the like.
In early use, esp. the lace or ‘latchet’ of a shoe.
| α c 950 Lindisf. G. John i. 27 Ic ne am wyrðe þætte ic undoe his ðuong scoes [Rushw. ðwong ᵹiscoes, Ags. Gosp. sceoþwang]. c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Mk. i. 7 His sceona þwanga [Lindisf. ðuongas scóe his, Rushw. þwongas ᵹescoas his]. c 1000 ælfric Gen. xiv. 23 (Gr.) Þæt ic ne underfo furðon anne þwang of eallum þisum þingum. c 1050 Gloss. in Wr.-Wülcker 379/32 Corrigie, olþwongas. a 1100 Ibid. 332/12 Corrigia, ðwangc. c 1275 Lay. 22295 Somme makede þwanges. a 1300 Cursor M. 12823 (Cott.) To lese þe thuanges of his sco. c 1425 Wyntoun Cron. viii. xxviii. 4599 A royne lanȝhare..And schare a thwayng at all laysere. 1513 Douglas æneis ix. xi. 5 Dartis..Quhilk thai with lyamis and thwangis lang owt threw. 1570 Levins Manip. 23/42 A Thwangue, lorum. 1641 Ferguson's Sc. Prov. No. 647 Mony ane tines the haff-merk whinger for the halfpenny whang. 1703 Thoresby Let. to Ray Gloss. (E.D.S.), ‘A thwang for a shoe’, the latchet. 1894 Heslop Northumbld. Gloss. 779 The end..of a flail is lashed to the wood with a whang. |
| β c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 137 Ich nam noht ne for ðen wurðe þat ich un-cnutte his sho þuong. c 1205 Lay. 22295 Sum makede þwonges. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 2492 As moche place as mid a þuong ich may aboute tille. 13.. Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 194 Syþen þrawen wyth a þwong a þwarle knot alofte. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) I. 369 Þey usede hiȝe schone unto þe kne, i-slitte to fore, and i-laced wiþ þwonges. 1485 Caxton Paris & V. 27 Henge a lytel keye by a thwonge. |
| γ c 1205 Lay. 14221 Þa al islit wes þe þong he wes wunder ane long. c 1350 Will. Palerne 1720 Sche..festened hire in þat fel wiþ ful gode þonges. 1480 Caxton Chron. Eng. lvi. 40 Engyst prayd hym..of as moche place as he myght compasse with a thong of a skynne. 1563 Golding Cæsar v. (1565) 138 He aduised him to tie the letter to the thong of a Iaueling, & so to throw it into his camp. 1570 Levins Manip. 167/2 A Thongue, lorum. 1610 Holland Camden's Brit. (1637) 339 A beasts hide cut into thongs. 1649 G. Daniel Trinarch., Hen. V clxxix, Another girds his Frock, with a sure Thonge [rime strong]. 1703 Moxon Mech. Exerc. 179 The Noose of a Leather Thong. 1867 Parkman Jesuits N. Amer. xvii. (1875) 246 Subsisting on the bark of trees or the thongs of raw hide. |
| δ c 1425 Eng. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 656/1 Hec corigia, thowyng. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 492/1 Thownge, or lanere. a 1800 Pegge Suppl. Grose, Thunk, Lancashire pronunciation of Thong. 1881 G. F. Jackson Shropsh. Word-bk. s.v. Thung, ‘I give the cobbler a penny fur two thunks’. 1886 Cheshire Gloss., Thonk, a thong, a bootlace; also Thunk. |
† b. A phylactery. Only
OE. rare.
| c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Matt. xxiii. 5 Hia ᵹebrædas forðon ðuuencgu hiora. c 975 Rushw. Gosp. ibid., Þwænga. |
c. Such a strip used as an instrument of flagellation; also as the lash of a whip; hence
spec. a whip-lash of plaited hide.
| 1592 Lyly Midas iv. iii, A boy was beaten on the taile with a leathern thong. 1728–46 Thomson Spring 809 The trembling steed..Nor heeds the rein, nor hears the sounding thong. 1782 Cowper Progr. Err. 360 Man's coltish disposition asks the thong. 1832 Lytton Eugene A. ii. vi, A gentleman..left the whip to have a new thong put to it. 1876 Grant Burgh Sch. Scot. ii. v. 195 Horace prayed for a settled standard of punishment, lest any one should be subjected to the horrible thong, who is only deserving of a slight whipping. |
d. transf. A similar strip of other material, as a tough pliant plant-stem, etc.;
spec. a root or root-cutting of horse-radish or sea-kale.
| 1665 Hooke Microgr. 6 Bound together with thongs of Brambles. 1838 T. Thomson Chem. Org. Bodies 696 Take a thong of this substance [india-rubber]. 1875 T. W. Higginson Yng. Folks' Hist. U.S. iii. 17 The edges were sewed with thongs cut from the roots of the cedar. 1927 Smallholder 26 Mar. 105 Plant [horseradish] each year..fresh pieces..made from the side roots or thongs. Ibid., It is now time to plant out thongs of seakale. 1951 Dict. Gardening (R. Hort. Soc.) IV. 1916/2 Cuttings [of seakale], or thongs as they are frequently called, are clean straight pieces of the side roots. 1961 Amat. Gardening 21 Oct. 9/3 The thick roots [of seakale] or ‘thongs’..are not needed for forcing. |
e. fig.;
esp. in phrase
to cut a large thong (or large thongs) of another man's leather,
thongs of other men's hides, to be lavish with that which is another's.
| c 1380 Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. I. 76 Þis ordre is a þuonge to bynde mennis willes togidere. 1465 Marg. Paston in P. Lett. II. 226 Men cut large thongs here of other mens lether. 1784 Cowper Task iii. 26 What chance that I..Should speak to purpose, or with better hope Crack the satiric thong? 1865 Kingsley Herew. i, As long as I could cut long thongs out of other men's hides. 1878 Masque Poets 149 The silken tie became a thong Wherewith she pinioned him in bondage strong. |
f. Austral. and
U.S. = flip-flop f. Cf. thong-sandal, sense 2 below.
| 1967 Coast to Coast 1965–6 87 Her feet, in scuffed leather thongs, were none too clean. 1976 New Yorker 17 May 35/2 Please, no clogs, Earth Shoes, or thongs. 1981 H. Engel Ransom Game (1982) xxx. 197 She..handed me a pair of Japanese thongs. I slipped them on and felt the skin between my first two toes protest. |
2. attrib. and
Comb., as
thong-point,
thong-wearer;
thong-hurled adj.;
thong-drill, a drill rotated by means of a thong or cord wound round its stem;
thong-man, a man who wields the thong or lash; in
quot., a critic;
thong sandal Austral. and
U.S. = sense 1 f above;
thong-seal, a name sometimes given to the bearded seal,
Erignathus barbatus, the hide of which is cut into a continuous strip for use as a line;
thong weed = sea thong s.v. sea n. 23 e.
| 1865 Tylor Early Hist. Man. ix. 242 The *thong-drill with the mouthpiece. |
| 1685 Cotton tr. Montaigne (1877) I. 23 The bear, made fiercer by the wound from the Lybian's *thong-hurled dart. |
| 1876 G. Meredith Beauch. Career xxxiv, Self-appointed *thongmen who walk up and down our ranks flapping their leathern straps. |
| 1897 Blackw. Mag. Nov. 593/2 A leather sporran tagged with *thong points tied in knots. |
| 1965 Times Lit. Suppl. 25 Nov. 1057/2 Supporting activities, like teaching and editing and selling *thong-sandals. 1972 J. Aiken Butterfly Picnic iii. 59 He wore a magenta tussore shirt..burnt-orange shorts, and local-made thong sandals. |
| 1901 Athenæum 2 Nov. 589/1 It is the cord-wearer [Franciscan] rather than the *thong-wearer [Dominican] who is the hero of the more scandalous anecdotes. |
| 1958 Listener 31 July 179/2 With I-Spy at the Seaside I shall look for..some *thong weed. 1966 Oxf. Bk. Flowerless Plants 4/2 Himanthalia elongata (‘Thong Weed’) is to be found attached to rock surfaces. |
Hence
thongy (
ˈθɒŋɪ)
a. dial.: see
quots.| 1847–78 Halliwell, Thongy, ropy, viscid. Somerset. 1885 Reports Provinc. (E.D.D.), Cider is often said ‘to be thongy’, when it gets into the peculiar state known as ‘reamed’ or ‘ropy’. |
Add:
[1.] g. A skimpy garment (similar to a G-string) consisting of a cache-sexe and a narrow elasticated strip extending between the legs and buttocks to meet a waistband, and worn
esp. as an item of swimwear.
| 1975 Times 22 Apr. 9/1 Rudi Gernreich['s]..new bathing suit, also available as an item of lingerie..is called the Thong. 1979 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 8 Aug. 11/5 John Fogel has been fined..for wearing a ‘thong’ on the beach and thus exposing his buttocks. 1988 Chicago Tribune 17 Feb. vii. 3 Cindy Crawford..wears a little lacey swimdress with golden Lycra thong in Sports Illustrated's annual T-and-A swimsuit issue. |
▪ II. thong, v. (
θɒŋ)
Forms: see
prec. [f. thong n. Cf. ON. þvengja (skó) to furnish (shoes) with a thong.] 1. trans. To furnish with a thong; to fasten or secure with a thong or thongs; to bind with thongs.
| a 1225 [implied in thonged]. 1483 Cath. Angl. 388/1 To Thwange [v.r. Twange], corrigiare. 1723 R. Millar Hist. Propag. Chr. II. vii. 302 Their Habits are Sheep Skins undressed thonged together. 1861 Life of Bacon xx. 414 He too is thonging the scourge for his own back. |
2. To flog or lash with a thong. Also
absol.| 1746 Exmoor Scolding 77 (E.D.S.) Chell [= ich will] thong tha,..chell pummel tha,.. chell lace tha. 1855 Thackeray Newcomes I. ii. 23 Mrs. Newcome thonged him with the lash of her indignation. 1866 Cornh. Mag. Dec. 743 ‘Stick to them, my lads’, shouts Captain Blake, double-thonging with a hunting-whip like a maniac. 1890 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Miner's Right vii, He..was quite capable of raising a wale upon that epidermis which it suited him to thong. |
3. dial. (See
quot.)
| 1888 Berksh. Gloss., Thong, to twine or twist together. |
4. dial. intr. To become viscous or ‘ropy’.
| 1847–78 Halliwell, Thong, to rope; to stretch out into viscous threads or filaments. |
Hence
thonged (
θɒŋd)
ppl. a., furnished or fastened with thongs;
esp. thonged sandal;
ˈthonging vbl. n., flogging with a thong.
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 362 And me ne mei nout..two þongede scheon habben, wiðuten buggunge. a 1847 J. T. Hurlock in Essex Rev. XVII. 56 Scourge not with thonged whips. 1860 Thackeray Round. Papers, Small-beer Chron., Is there no enemy who would be the better for a little thonging? 1880 Browning Dram. Idylls ii. Echetlos 22 The large limbs thonged and brown. 1958 N. Marsh Singing in Shrouds (1959) ix. 189 She had high-heeled thonged sandals on her feet. 1972 D. Bloodworth Any Number can Play xv. 135 Fashionable accessories, including thonged sandals. 1982 J. Elliott Country of her Dreams ii. 15 Rosa Treadwell, in thonged sandals and sweat-stained smock, flumped herself down. |