What does tonguing mean?
Tonguing is the present participle and gerund of tongue and, as a noun, the act of using the tongue. In its most familiar interpersonal sense, it means licking or kissing with the tongue, and it often carries an intimate or sexual connotation when a person is the object. It can also describe tasting or removing food or another substance with the tongue. A specialised woodworking sense refers to fitting a projecting tongue into a matching groove, as in a tongue-and-groove joint. The word is therefore broader than its suggestive modern use suggests: context determines whether it concerns affection, sensual contact, eating, animal behaviour, or joinery. As a verb, tonguing also appears in progressive and gerund constructions, such as “was tonguing,” while the noun is uncommon in general use. Though often memorable for its innuendo, tonguing is a transparent derivative of tongue, an Old English word with close relatives in several Germanic languages.
To use the tongue to lick, taste, touch, or kiss something, especially another person's body.
"She was gently tonguing the ice cream from the cone."
The form functions as both a gerund and a present participle. References to a person commonly carry an intimate or sexual connotation.
To fit a projecting tongue into a matching groove when joining pieces of wood.
"The carpenter is tonguing the planks so their edges will interlock."
This is a specialised woodworking usage associated with tongue-and-groove construction.
The act or an instance of using the tongue to lick, taste, touch, or kiss something.
"The zookeeper noted the horse's repeated tonguing of the salt block."
The noun use is uncommon in general English, and its plural is correspondingly rare.
The plural is grammatically possible but rare.
"The study recorded two brief tonguings during the animal's feeding."
From frosting to a kiss, tonguing lets context do all the explaining.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does tonguing come from?
Tonguing was formed by adding the ordinary English -ing ending to tongue rather than borrowed as a separate word. Tongue descends from Old English tunge, from a Proto-Germanic ancestor reconstructed with the root *tung-. Cognates include Scots tung, Danish and Norwegian tunge, Dutch tong, and German Zunge.
Related word forms
How tonguing is actually used
Tonguing is commonly used as a gerund or present participle. When its object is a person, it may sound intimate or sexual. In woodworking, it is a specialised term associated with tongue-and-groove joints.