tonsil
(ˈtɒnsɪl)
Usually in pl. tonsils (ˈtɒnsɪlz). Also 7 -ell.
[ad. L. tonsillæ (pl.); cf. F. tonsilles (Paré, 16th c., les tonsilles ou amygdales).]
1. Each of two oval lymphoid glands situated one on each side of the fauces between the anterior and posterior arches.
| 1601 Holland Pliny xxiii. Proem 146 Ulcers that happen in moist parts, and namely those of the mouth, Tonsils or Almond-kernels on either side of the throat. 1603 ― Plutarch's Mor. 1022 The glandulous parts or kernelles called tonsells. 1776 Cruikshank in Phil. Trans. LXXXV. 183 The tonsils were considerably inflamed. 1840 G. V. Ellis Anat. 238 The tonsil is a collection of mucous follicles, situated between the pillars of the soft palate, above the side of the tongue, and below the velum. |
2. Each of the two lobes of the cerebellum; also called amygdala.
| 1891 in Cent. Dict. 1899 in Syd. Soc. Lex. |
3. abdominal tonsil: a name sometimes applied to the lymphatic tissue of the appendix vermiformis.
4. attrib. and Comb.
| 1767 Gooch Treat. Wounds I. 425 The operation [was] easily performed, with an instrument a little more curved than a tonsil-needle, having an eye towards the point. 1898 J. Hutchinson in Arch. Surg. IX. No. 36. 349 There may also..be a difference in proneness to tonsil affections in different races. |
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▸ tonsil hockey n. humorous (orig. U.S.) passionate kissing; deep or French kissing; ‘making out’; freq. in to play tonsil hockey: to engage in this.
| 1986 UNC-CH Slang (typescript) (Univ. N. Carolina, Chapel Hill: Eng. 36 class) Fall 5 *Tonsil hockey, passionate kissing. 1995 Guardian 5 June 13 Getting his tongue caught in his girlfriend's braces during bouts of tonsil hockey. 2003 D. Levithan Boy meets Boy 83 A couple of weeks later you're in the halls playing tonsil hockey with Mary Anne McAllister. |