tongue

n

1. organ of taste, lingua; Bot., Zool. ligula.

2. language, speech, dialect, parlance, idiolect; mother tongue, native tongue, native language, parent language; vernacular, common speech; verbal expression, use of words, voice, ability to speak; slang, idiom, vulgarism, colloquialism, vernacularism; jargon, Ing. lingo, argot; jabber, gibberish, gibber, gob-bledygook, empty talk; prattle, mumbo jumbo, palaver, patter.

3. diction, talk, accent, tone, expression, utterance, vocalization; manner of speaking, locution; phrasing, wording, terminology, phraseology, vocabulary.

4.Often tongues

glossolalia, gift of speaking in tongues.

5. find one’s tongue

recover one's poise, find the-right words, think what to say, say what one means.

6. hold one’s tongue

be silent, keep silent, keep one's mouth shut, muzzle oneself, not breathe a word, say nothing, keep mum, not utter a word; refuse comment, save one's breath; keep one's own counsel, not open one's mouth.

7. slip of the tongue

mistake in speaking, slip, Freudian slip, wrong or bad or false move, blunder, faux pas, gaffe, stupidity, indiscretion.

8. tongue in cheek or with tongue in cheek

in fun, in just, in play; kiddingly, jokingly, jestingly, facetiously; mockingly, insincerely, sarastically, ironically.