different between tong vs pincer

English

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /t??/
• Rhymes: -??

Etymology 1

From Old English tange, from Proto-Germanic *tang?, from Proto-Indo-European *den?- (“to bite”). Cognate with Old Norse t?ng (modern Icelandic töng), Old High German zanga (modern German Zange). Other cognates include Sanskrit ???? (dá?ati, “to bite”) and Albanian dang (“bite, nip”).

Noun

tong (plural tongs)

1. An instrument or tool used for manipulating things in a fire without touching them with the hands.
   • 1998, Alberdina Houtman, Marcel Poorthuis, Joshua Schwartz (editors), Sanctity of time and space in tradition and modernity, page 232:

     […] these attributes are concrete expressions of God's care and providence and therefore not man-made. This explains the quite bizarre presence of a ‘pair’ of tongs in some lists: in order to make a tong one needs a tong, and how could the first tong be made without a tong?

Derived terms

• tonging
• port tong

Translations

Verb

tong (third-person singular simple present tongs, present participle tonging, simple past and past participle tonged)

1. (intransitive) To use tongs.
2. (transitive) To grab, manipulate or transport something using tongs.

Translations

See also

• tongs

Etymology 2

From Cantonese ? (tong?).

Noun

tong (plural tongs)

1. A Chinese secret society or gang.

Translations

See also

• triad
• yakuza

Etymology 3

Noun

tong (plural tongs)

1. Obsolete spelling of tongue

Afrikaans

Etymology

From Dutch tong, from Middle Dutch tonge, from Old Dutch tunga, from Proto-Germanic *tung?, from Proto-Indo-European *dn???wéh?s.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /t??/

Noun

tong (plural tonge)

1. tongue

Derived terms

• biltong
• tongvis

Chuukese

Noun

tong

1. love

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /t??/
• Hyphenation: tong
• Rhymes: -??

Etymology 1

From Middle Dutch tonge, from Old Dutch tunga, from Proto-West Germanic *tung?, from Proto-Germanic *tung?, from Proto-Indo-European *dn???wéh?s.

Noun

tong f (plural tongen, diminutive tongetje n)

1. tongue

Derived terms

• roltong
• tongbeen
• tongloos
• tongpiercing
• tongspier
• vuurtong

Descendants

• Afrikaans: tong

Etymology 2

From etymology 1.

Noun

tong m (plural tongen, diminutive tongetje n)

1. A kind of flatfish, the common sole, Solea solea.

Synonyms

• zeetong

French

Etymology

From English thong.

Noun

tong f (plural tongs)

1. flip-flop, thong

   Synonyms: (informal) clic-clac, (Canada, informal) gougonne, (Belgium, Africa) slache, (West Africa) tapette, claquette

Indonesian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [?t??]
• Hyphenation: tong

Etymology 1

From Malay tong, from Hokkien ? (thóng).

Noun

tong (first-person possessive tongku, second-person possessive tongmu, third-person possessive tongnya)

1. barrel

   Synonym: tahang

Etymology 2

Onomatopoeic.

Noun

tong (first-person possessive tongku, second-person possessive tongmu, third-person possessive tongnya)

1. sound of a gong, kentungan.

Etymology 3

From Betawi [Term?].

Noun

tong (first-person possessive tongku, second-person possessive tongmu, third-person possessive tongnya)

1. (dialect, Jakarta) Clipping of entong (“boy”).

Further reading

• “tong” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia (KBBI) Daring, Jakarta: Badan Pengembangan dan Pembinaan Bahasa, Kementerian Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan Republik Indonesia, 2016.

Malay

Etymology 1

From Chinese ?. Related to tahang.

Noun

tong (plural tong-tong, informal 1st possessive tongku, impolite 2nd possessive tongmu, 3rd possessive tongnya)

1. barrel, tub, bin

Descendants

• Indonesian: tong

Etymology 2

From Dutch ton.

Noun

tong (plural tong-tong, informal 1st possessive tongku, impolite 2nd possessive tongmu, 3rd possessive tongnya)

1. ton

Mandarin

Romanization

tong

1. Nonstandard spelling of t?ng.
2. Nonstandard spelling of tóng.
3. Nonstandard spelling of t?ng.
4. Nonstandard spelling of tòng.

Usage notes

• English transcriptions of Mandarin speech often fail to distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without the appropriate indication of tone.

Min Nan

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Old Norse t?ng

Noun

tong f (definite singular tonga, indefinite plural tenger, definite plural tengene)

1. (a pair of) pliers, pincers

Derived terms

• knipetong

See also

• tang (Bokmål)

References

• “tong” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Vietnamese

Pronunciation

• (Hà N?i) IPA^(key): [taw??m??]
• (Hu?) IPA^(key): [taw??m??]
• (H? Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [taw??m??]

Adjective

tong

1. done for, screwed

Westrobothnian

Etymology

From Old Norse þungr, from Proto-Germanic *þunguz, akin to Proto-Slavic *t?ž?k? (compare Serbo-Croatian težak) and Lithuanian tingus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [t???????], [t?ó??], [t??????(??)]

  Rhymes: -ú??

Adjective

tong (neuter tongt, plural t?ng, comparative töynger, superlative töyngst)

1. Heavy.

Derived terms

• frammtong
• tongfälu
• tongfött
• tonghändt
• tongsam
• t?nj

English

Alternative forms

• pincher (dated)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?p?ns??/
• Rhymes: -?ns?(r)

Noun

pincer (plural pincers)

1. Any object that resembles one half of a pair of pincers.

Derived terms

• pincer attack

Verb

pincer (third-person singular simple present pincers, present participle pincering, simple past and past participle pincered)

1. (transitive, sometimes figuratively) To surround with a pincer attack.
   • 1984, Robert Lamb, Competitive Strategic Management (page 115)

     After considering all frontal counteroffensive alternatives, Heublein rejected them as detrimental to its profits and came up with a brilliant pincering maneuver. It raised the price of Smirnoff by one dollar, effectively preventing segment diffusion, […]

Anagrams

• Prince, prince

French

Etymology

From Old French pincier, pincer (“to pinch”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /p??.se/

Verb

pincer

1. to pinch (skin)
2. (informal) to pinch (to arrest)
3. (music) To pluck (a stringed instrument)

Conjugation

This verb is part of a group of -er verbs for which ‘c’ is softened to a ‘ç’ before the vowels ‘a’ and ‘o’.

Further reading

• “pincer” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Anagrams

• prince

Old French

Etymology

From Vulgar Latin *pinci?re (“to puncture, pinch”).

Verb

pincer

1. to pinch

Conjugation

This verb conjugates as a first-group verb ending in -er. The forms that would normally end in *-c, *-cs, *-ct are modified to z, z, zt. In addition, c becomes ç before an a, o or u to keep the /ts/ sound intact. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.

Descendants

• Middle French: pincier, pincer
  • French: pincer
    • ? Bavarian: pfitzen
    • ? Dutch: pinsen, pitsen
• Norman: pînchi
• ? Middle English: pinchen
  • English: pinch

Further reading

• “pincer” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).