tongs
part of speech
noun (tongs, plural; a pair of tongs)
meaning for a pupil
1) Tongs are a tool with two long arms joined at one end, used to pick up and hold things, such as food on a barbecue, salad, ice cubes or hot coals. tree →
2) Science tongs (crucible tongs) hold hot things in the lab. tree →
3) (UK) Curling tongs are a hot tool for curling hair. tree →
4) Hammer and tongs means working or fighting with great force and energy. tree →
sense in the lessons
In everyday life tongs keep hands away from hot food and germs. In science safety, tongs are used to hold hot crucibles or test tubes. In maths/science, tongs are a lever. Phrases: «a pair of tongs», «barbecue tongs», «salad tongs», «hammer and tongs» (with great energy, often noisily arguing).
examples
- Use the tongs to turn the sausages. tree →
- Pass me the salad tongs, please. tree →
- In science we held the hot crucible with tongs. tree →
- She picked up the ice cubes with tongs. tree →
- Mum curls her hair with curling tongs. tree →
- They were arguing hammer and tongs. tree →
- Tongs are a kind of lever. tree →
- Are you any good with hammer and tongs? tree →
note
Plural noun: «the tongs are», «a pair of tongs». Do not say «a tong». Not to be confused with «tongues». Check tongs are not too hot before touching the ends.
In the corpora
- Seesaws, scissors, wheelbarrows, bottle openers, nutcrackers, tongs and even your own arm are all levers.
- Tongs and tweezers are levers pressed in the middle; they give less force but more control, so they suit careful work.
- And the tongs thereof, and the snuffdishes thereof, shall be of pure gold.
- And he made the lamps thereof, seven, and the tongs thereof, and the snuffdishes thereof, of pure gold.
- and the flowers, and the lamps, and the tongs, of gold, and that perfect gold;
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «tongs» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.