| 释义 |
tongs, n. pl.|tɒŋz|
Forms: α. sing. 1 tang, 1–5 tange; pl. 1 tangan, 2–4 tangen; 4 tangs, (5 tangys, -is, tang(g)es, 6 Sc. tang(g)is, taingis, tayngis), 6– Sc. tangs, tayngs; 6 Sc. double pl. tangisis. β. sing. 1 tǫng, 3–5 tonge, (4 toenge, 5 tongge), (9 tong); pl. 3 tongen; 4 tunges, 4–5 tongys, 5 toonges, tongges, 5–7 tonges, (6 tonkes, thounges, 7 tungs), 7–8 tongues, 5– tongs.
[OE. tang (str. f.), tange (wk. f.) = OLG. tanga (MDu. tanghe, Du. tang), OFris. tange, OHG. zanga str. fem. (MHG., Ger. zange), ON. tǫng str. f.,:—*tangu (Norw. tong, Swed. tång, Da. tang):—OTeut. *tangṓ- (also, with weak inflexion, tangṓn-):—Indo-Eur. *dankā́-, referred to the root *dak-, dank- to bite (Skr. damç, daç, Gr. δάκνειν); cf. OHG. zangar, MLG., LG. tanger, MDu. tangher sharp, biting.]
1. An implement consisting of two limbs or ‘legs’ connected by a hinge, pivot, or spring, by means of which their lower ends are brought together so as to grasp and take up objects which it is impossible or inconvenient to lift with the hand. Examples of different forms are seen in a smith's tongs, domestic fire-tongs, and sugar-tongs.
A particular use or shape is often indicated by a prefixed word, as blacksmith's t., curling-t., gas-fitter's t., pipe t., sugar-t. When not otherwise particularized usually applied to fire-tongs. In early quots. often not distinguishable in sense from pincers or forceps.
†a. in sing. form tong. Obs.
c725Corpus Gloss. (O.E.T.) 905 Forceps, tong. a1000Ags. Gloss. in Wr.-Wülcker 218/37 Delebra, tang. Ibid. 272/34 Forceps, tang. c1050Byrhtferth's Handboc in Anglia (1885) VIII. 325 Mid his gyldenan tange. a1250Owl & Night. 156 Þu twengest þar mid so doþ a tonge. c1305St. Dunstan 77 in E.E.P. (1862) 36 He droȝ forþ his tonge And leide in þe hote fur. c1380Sir Ferumb. 1308, & het to brynge wiþ him anon anuylt, tange, & slegge. 1382Wyclif Isa. vi. 6 A cole, that with the toenge [1388 a tonge] he toc fro the auter. c1440Promp. Parv. 496/2 Tongge, fyyr instrument. c1483Caxton Dialogues 8/9 Ung estenelle, ung greyl, a tonge, a gredyron.
b. in pl. form with plural construction: the usual current use. pair of tongs is used when qualification by a numeral or an indefinite article is wanted.
αc890tr. Bæda's Hist. v. xiii. [xii.] (1890) 428 Hæfdon heo fyrene eaᵹan..ond fyrene tangan him on handa hæfdon. c1000ælfric Hom. II. 352 Woldon me ᵹelæccan mid heora byrnendum tangum. c1300Tangen [see quot. c 1290 in β]. 1384–5Durham Acc. Rolls (Surtees) 265, j par de Tangs. 1412–13Ibid. 610, j pare belowys et tangys empt. c1425Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 657/11 Hec forceps, tangges. 1483Cath. Angl. 378/1 A paire of Tanges, jn plurali numero, tenalia. 1500–20Dunbar Poems lii. 14 The wyff..That with the taingis wald brack his schinnis. 1547Reg. Mag. Sig. Scot. 20 note, Tua pair of tayngis. 1595Duncan App. Etym. (E.D.S.), Forceps, tayngs. 1718Ramsay Christ's Kirk Gr. iii. iv, Her aunt a pair of tangs fush in. 1816J. Boswell, etc. Justiciary Opera 5 To seize on anither man's geer (As the tangs ance a Highlandman fand). 1825Jamieson s.v. Tangs, ‘You fand that whar the Highlandman fand the tangs’ S. Prov. [Cf. quot. 1721 in β.]
βc1290St. Brendan 480 in S. Eng. Leg. I. 233 With tongen [Harl. MS. 2277 (c 1300) tangen] and with hameres brenninde mani on. 1352–3Ely Sacr. Rolls (1907) II. 155 In j pari de Tongys pro plumbario. 1392–3Earl Derby's Exp. (Camden) 158 Pro tunges et aliis necessariis. 1426Lydg. De Guil. Pilgr. 16144 And with thy Toonges pynche hem so. 1483Act 1 Rich. III, c. 12 §2 Andyrons, Cobbardes, Tongges, Fireforkes. 1495Naval Acc. Hen. VII (1896) 205 Tongges of yron..j payre. 1530Palsgr. 251/1 Payre of tonges, tenailles. Ibid., Payre of smythes tonges, gresses. 1531Rec. St. Mary at Hill 37 A payre of andi[r]onis and a payre of tonkes with a fyer Raike. 1586Rates of Custome E viij b, Tongs for fire the dosen vj. s. 1599Acc. Bk. W. Wray in Antiquary XXXII. 243 One pair of thounges. 1605Rowlands Hell's Broke Loose 47 Their flesh torne from the bones with fiery tongs. 1614Liber Depos. Archidiaconat. Colcestr. lf. 71 (MS.) To saye he would laye her on the pate with the tungs. 1663Pepys Diary 7 Sept., Dogs, tongues, and shovells, for my wife's closett. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. iv. 255 With Tongs they turn the Steel. 1721Kelly Scot. Prov. 383 You found it where the Highland Man found the Tongs. 1815J. Smith Panorama Sc. & Art II. 171 Grasping the tongs with the right hand a little below the middle. 1845James Arrah Neil ii, He was as thin and spare, too, as a pair of tongs.
c. In pl. form tongs const. as sing.; with rare pl. tongisis, tongses, pairs of tongs. Chiefly Sc.
1489Act. Dom. Conc. (1839) 132/1 Twa axis, a wowmill..a tangis, price xl d. 1542Rec. Elgin (N. Spald. Cl. 1903) I. 71 The masterfull streking of Ellene Murray with ane tanggis. 1576Reg. Mag. Sig. Scot. 691 note, 2 pair of tangisis, 3s. apiece. 1596Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. vii. (S.T.S.) II. 46 The rest of his body..the pynouris raue with an yrne tangs. 1708Caldwell Papers (Maitl. Cl.) I. 216, I must also have a tongs and shovel. 1796Burns On Life vii, Like a sheep-head on a tangs. 1849W. Irving Crayon Misc. 254 A relic..which, if I recollect right, he pronounced to have been a tongs.
d. in sing. form tong: One leg of a pair of tongs. humorous nonce-use.
1862Thackeray Philip xxxii, He keeps a tong to the present day, and speaks very satirically regarding that relic. 1864Daily Tel. 26 Aug., With the half of a pair of tongs, or perhaps I should say with a tong, in his tiny fist. 1897in Westm. Gaz. 7 Dec. 4/1 The beetle trotted down the kitchen tong.
2. a. fig. and in phrases: e.g. not to touch with a pair of tongs, expressing repugnance to have anything to do with.
c1386Chaucer Pars. T. ⁋481 Thanne stant Enuye and holdeth the hoote Iren vpon the herte of man with a peire of longe toonges of long rancour. 1579Fulke Refut. Rastel 714 [It] maketh M. Rastel..to gnaw the tonges for anger. 1643J. Caryl Expos. Job ii. 8 A man would scarce touch such an one with a pair of Tongs. a1688Bunyan Jerus. Sinner Saved (1886) 112 We are scarce for touching of the poor ones.., no not with a pair of tongs. 1828Craven Gloss. s.v. Tangs, ‘He brades of a pair o' tangs’, this is applied to a person with long limbs. 1882M. E. Braddon Mt. Royal III. vii. 136, I wouldn't touch it with a pair of tongs.
b. As used in burlesque music.
1590Shakes. Mids. N. iv. i. 32 Clowne. I haue a reasonable good eare in musicke. Let us haue the tongs and the bones. 1678Rymer Trag. Last Age 139 The tintamar and twang of the Tongs and Jewstrumps. 1885Dobson Sign of Lyre 123 Well, our immortal Shakespear owns The Oaf preferred the ‘Tongs and Bones’!
c. snapping tongs, a game: see quot.
1844Barnes Poems Rural Life Gloss., Snappen tongs, a game of forfeits..[played] in a room in which are seats for all but one,..when the tongs are snapped all run to sit down, and the one that fails to get a seat pays a forfeit. 1847in Halliwell.
d. Short for sugar-tongs, curling-tongs, oyster-tongs: see these words; also lazy-tongs.
1713Lond. Gaz. No. 5086/3, 6 gilded Tea Spoons with Forks and Tongs. 1837Thackeray Ravenswing i, He was twiddling the [curling-] tongs with which he had just operated on Walker. 1870Standard 19 Oct., A party of Maryland oystermen were caught sinking their tongs into the Virginia beds.
3. In various transferred and technical applications.
†a. Name for an ancient surgical forceps: see quot. Obs.
†b. A weeding-tool: see quot. Obs.
c. The pincer-like organs of a scorpion.
d. In a pile-engine, the forceps which grips the staple in the head of the ram.
e. In diamond-cutting, a stand having at its upper end a vice-like device for holding the dop in which the diamond is imbedded for cutting.
f. Railway. A pincer-like device for grasping the rail on which a vehicle is standing, thus holding it still (Forney Car-builder's Dict. 1884).
g. ‘A name for pantaloons and roundabouts [short jackets] formerly in use in New England’ (Bartlett Dict. Amer. 1848); a skeleton suit. h. Oil Industry. A large pipe wrench used for making up or breaking out lengths of pipe or casing.
a.c1425tr. Arderne's Treat. Fistula 35 Whiche y-do, be þe lure y-opned wiþ tonges so y-shape þat when þe vtward endes bene streyned togidre þe inner endes be opned & agaynward.
b.1523Fitzherb. Husb. §21 The chyefe instrument to wede with, is a paire of tonges made of wode, and in the farther ende it is nycked, to holde the wed faster.
c.1608Topsell Serpents 223 The sixt is like a Crabbe, and this is called by Elianus a flamant Scorpion, it is of a great body, and hath tonges and takers very solide and strong, like the Gramuell or Creuish.
d.1776G. Semple Building in Water 36 The Tongs are opened by the two inclined Planes. Ibid. 37 The Ram..with the Staple, that the Tongs take hold of. 1825J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 310 Forceps or tongs are lowered down speedily, and instantly of themselves again lay hold of the ram and lift it up.
g.1845S. Judd Margaret i. vi, The boys dressed in ‘tongs’, a name for pantaloons or overalls, that had come into use.
h.1922F. M. Towl in D. T. Day Handbk. Petroleum Industry I. 411 When the friction becomes so great that this method cannot be used, the tongs are placed on the line. 1972L. M. Harris Introd. Deepwater Floating Drilling Operations v. 46 The normal rig-floor tools, such as, tongs, slips, and small hand tools.
4. Comb.: tongs-carriage, a carriage which supports the tongs used in glass-making, foundry-work, and the like; ˈtongsman, (a) = tongman; (b) Oil Industry, one who handles the large pipe wrench used for making up or breaking out lengths of pipe; ˈtongman, one who uses the tongs in oyster-fishing (U.S.).
1839Ure Dict. Arts 590 Glass-making... Two powerful branches of iron united by a bolt, like two scissar blades,..form the tongs-carriage, which is mounted upon two wheels like a truck. 1887Fisheries of U.S. Sect. v. II. 525 In midwinter, when the heavy planters are busy marketing their crops, the tongmen are idle, or are attending to their own little cove-beds. 1891W. K. Brooks Oyster 140 They are exposed to the depredations of both tongmen and dredgers. 1891Cent. Dict. (citing Davidson), Tongsman. 1974China Reconstructs July 47/1 Before long he became a skilled tongsman. |