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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

tang.

A refreshingly sharp aroma or flavor.

4 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈtæŋ/[ˈtʰæŋ]/ˈteɪ̯ŋ/[ˈtʰeɪ̯ŋ]
  1. A refreshingly sharp aroma or flavor.

    a tang of citrus
  2. A strong or offensive taste; especially, a taste of something extraneous to the thing itself.

    a tang of cellar
    Wine or cider has a tang of the cask.
  3. A sharp, specific flavor or tinge.

    figuratively
    a tang of pedantry
  4. A projecting part of an object by means of which it is secured to a handle, or to some other part.

    slip the cable over the tang
  5. A projecting part of an object by means of which it is secured to a handle, or to some other part. The part of a knife, fork, file, or other instrument or hand tool, which is inserted into the handle.

    full-tang
    A full-tang knife is strongest against handle breakage, but partial-tang knives are common because of a combination of facts: they are inexpensive, and in some applications any manner of use that would exceed the handle's limit is not an appropriate manner of use.
  6. A projecting part of an object by means of which it is secured to a handle, or to some other part. The part of a knife, fork, file, or other instrument or hand tool, which is inserted into the handle. The part of a sword blade to which the handle is fastened.

  7. A projecting part of an object by means of which it is secured to a handle, or to some other part. The projecting part of the breech of a musket barrel, by which the barrel is secured to the stock.

  8. A shuffleboard paddle.

  9. Obsolete form of tongue.

    alt-of · obsolete
  10. Anything resembling a tongue in form or position, such as the tongue of a buckle.

    broadly
Where this word comes from

From Middle English tange, variant of tonge (“tongs, fang”), from Old Norse tangi (“pointed metal tool”), perhaps related to Old Norse tunga (“tongue”). But see also Middle Dutch tanger (“sharp, tart, pinching”).

noun/ˈtæŋ/[ˈtʰæŋ]/ˈteɪ̯ŋ/[ˈtʰeɪ̯ŋ]
  1. A sharp, twanging sound; an unpleasant tone; a twang.

Where this word comes from

Imitative

verb/ˈtæŋ/[ˈtʰæŋ]/ˈteɪ̯ŋ/[ˈtʰeɪ̯ŋ]
  1. To strike two metal objects together loudly in order to persuade a swarm of honeybees to land so it may be captured by the beekeeper.

    dated
  2. To make a ringing sound; to ring.

Where this word comes from

Imitative

noun/ˈtæŋ/[ˈtʰæŋ]/ˈteɪ̯ŋ/[ˈtʰeɪ̯ŋ]
  1. knotted wrack, Ascophyllum nodosum (coarse blackish seaweed)

    countable · rare · uncountable
Where this word comes from

Probably of Scandinavian origin; compare Danish tang (“seaweed”), Swedish tång, Icelandic þang

noun/ˈtæŋ/[ˈtʰæŋ]/ˈteɪ̯ŋ/[ˈtʰeɪ̯ŋ]
  1. The vagina or vulva.

    countable · vulgar
  2. Sexual intercourse with a woman

    uncountable · vulgar
Where this word comes from

Clipping of poontang.

noun/ˈtæŋ/[ˈtʰæŋ]/ˈteɪ̯ŋ/[ˈtʰeɪ̯ŋ]
  1. Any of a group of saltwater fish from the family Acanthuridae, especially the genus Zebrasoma.

Where this word comes from

Unknown

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.