Tongs are a tool that you use to grip and pick up objects that you do not want to touch. They consist of two long narrow pieces of metal joined together at one end.
The waiter lifted rolls from a basket with a pair of silver tongs.
2. hammer and tongs
tongs in British English
(tɒŋz)
plural noun
a tool for grasping or lifting, consisting of a hinged, sprung, or pivoted pair of arms or levers, joined at one end
Also called: pair of tongs
Word origin
plural of Old English tange; related to Old Saxon tanga, Old High German zanga, Old Norse tong
tongs in American English
(tɔŋz; tɑŋz)
plural noun
[sometimes with sing. v.]
a device for seizing or lifting objects, having two long arms pivoted or hinged together
: also called pair of tongs
Word origin
ME tongys, pl. of tonge < OE tange, akin to Ger zange < IE base *den-, to bite: basic sense “those that bite together”
More idioms containing
tongs
go at it hammer and tongs
Examples of 'tongs' in a sentence
tongs
There was a poker and a brush and some coal tongs lying neatly in the grate by her feet.
Edward Docx THE CALLIGRAPHER (2003)
He did not touch the face of the pictures but used a pair of tongs from the desk drawer to separate them.
Duncan, Robert L THE SERPENT'S MARK (2003)
She then opens a lacquered wooden box on the silver tray and using a pair of long silver tongs extracts a writhing leech.
Alex Shakar THE SAVAGE GIRL (2003)
All related terms of 'tongs'
tong
to gather or seize with tongs
ice tongs
tongs designed for lifting pieces of ice , esp ice cubes to be added to a drink
lazy tongs
a set of tongs with extensible arms to allow objects to be grasped or handled at a distance
sugar tongs
a device consisting of two connected arms that you push together and use for picking up a lump of sugar
curling tongs
a metal scissor-like device that is heated, so that strands of hair may be twined around it in order to form curls
pair of tongs
a tool for grasping or lifting , consisting of a hinged , sprung , or pivoted pair of arms or levers , joined at one end
hammer and tongs
If you say that someone was going at something hammer and tongs , you mean that they were doing it with great enthusiasm or energy.