| 释义 |
▪ I. tong, n.1|tɒŋ|
[Echoic: cf. ting, tang, dong, etc.]
A deep ringing sound produced by a stroke on a large bell, deeper than that denoted by tang n.2, but sharper than that denoted by dong; the stroke producing this.
1881G. F. Jackson Shropsh. Word-bk., Tong, the sound produced by a slow single stroke on a church-bell; the stroke itself{ddd}‘The bell gies a tong or two w'en they comen out o' Church’. 1883C. S. Burne Folk-Lore xxxvii. 604 Giving a few tongs on the bell.
▪ II. tong, n.2|tɒŋ|
Also Tong.
[ad. Cantonese tohng hall, meeting place.]
a. An association or secret society of Chinese in the U.S., orig. formed as a benevolent or protective society but freq. associated with underworld criminal activity.
1883Harper's Mag. May 831/1 This burial-place..is parcelled off by white fences into enclosures for a large number of separate burial guilds, or tongs, as the Fook Yam Tong [etc.]. 1913[see hatchet-man 2]. 1924Glasgow Herald 29 Oct. 8 Rival Tongs, whose principal object seems to be mutual extermination. 1948P. Johnston Lost & Living Cities of California Gold Rush 15/2 Chinese who were members of two tongs, the Sam-yap and the Yan-wo, were working side by side at Two-mile Bar, on the Stanislaus River. 1968New York City (Michelin Tire Corp.) 83 Chinatown was then an area rife with debauchery and vice, the scene of ‘tong wars’ fought by rival ‘tongs’ to win control over opium dens, gambling haunts and houses of ill fame. 1972K. Bonfiglioli Don't point that Thing at Me xv. 128 The Chinese Tongs used to favour a six-inch nail, the Japanese use a sharpened umbrella-rib. 1977Time 12 Dec. 28/2 The famous Tongs were something else, more mysterious—secret societies similar to Mafia families. They ran gambling, prostitution, drugs, and offered merchants ‘protection’.
b. attrib., esp. in tong war.
1927Daily Express 25 Mar. 2/1 Chinese Tong (secret society) warfare broke out at midnight throughout the United States. 1928H. Asbury Gangs of N.Y. 301 The tong wars appeared to have begun about 1899, and..were all caused by conflicting gambling interests. 1950Los Angeles Times Home Mag. 26 Mar. 5/2 The servants of 70 years ago were mostly Chinese whose favorite outdoor sports were tong wars. 1962‘K. Orvis’ Damned & Destroyed ii. 20, I was called in by a tong leader. 1966‘G. Black’ You want to die, Johnny? iii. 51 The police are not neutrals in the little wars. Our interests are not entirely focussed on Tong feuds. 1972J. Ball Five Pieces of Jade xvi. 220 He had the idea that he could get rid of the two Chinese by..making it look like a ritual killing or a tong murder. 1976J. O'Connor Eleventh Commandment viii. 101 The screws weren't standing for Tong warfare. 1980G. V. Higgins Kennedy for Defence xvii. 149 We are liable to have a nice little tong war on our hands.
▪ III. tong, v.1|tɒŋ|
[Goes with tong n.1]
a. intr. To emit a deep ringing sound, as a bell when struck. Also with cognate object. Cf. tang v.2 1, 3.
b. trans. To cause (a bell, or other resonant body) to emit such a sound. tong out, to sound forth by tonging. Hence ˈtonging vbl. n.
1584R. Scot Discov. Witchcr. xii. xviii. (1886) 218 Trusting rather to the tonging of their belles, than to their own crie unto God. 1881G. F. Jackson Shropsh. Word-bk., Tong v.a. and v.n., to cause to sound,—to sound in one tone, as of a church-bell. 1883Hampshire Gloss. s.v., The bells be tonged’, i.e. are being tolled. 1907Scribner's Mag. Feb. 151 The great bell of the cathedral tonged out the vespers.
▪ IV. tong, v.2 U.S.|tɒŋ|
[f. tongs.]
a. trans. To grasp, gather, or handle with tongs; spec. to gather (clams or oysters) with oyster-tongs.
b. intr. To use or work with tongs.
1868, etc. [implied in tonging vbl. n.]. 1887[implied in tonger].
c. trans. To lift or move (a log) with skidding tongs.
d. To style (hair, etc.) with curling tongs.
1932‘E. M. Delafield’ Thank Heaven Fasting i. ii. 35 Monica's hair had been tonged into waves. 1953P. L. Fermor Violins of Saint-Jacques 48 His moustache was crisply tonged. 1976‘D. Halliday’ Dolly & Nanny Bird iii. 37 She had her hair waved to her ears, and then tonged out sideways.
Hence tonger |ˈtɒŋə(r)|, one who gathers oysters with oyster-tongs; ˈtonging |ˈtɒŋɪŋ| vbl. n., the use of tongs; spec. the taking of oysters with tongs.
1868Rep. U.S. Commissioner Agric. (1869) 342 Eleven million bushels [of oysters] taken in the legitimate way of dredging and tonging. 1887Fisheries of U.S. Sect. v. II. 552 As soon as a tonger has caught as many as his small boat will carry he sells out to the runner and returns to work. Ibid., The size of the tonging-canoe ranges from 15 or 16 feet to 30 feet or more. 1891W. K. Brooks Oyster 2 There were 1000 boats engaged in dredging and 1500 canoes engaged in tonging. 1901Munsey's Mag. XXV. 386/1 Before it reaches the mill..a saw log is moved four times in four different ways. First, it has to be ‘tonged’ a distance of anywhere from ten to a hundred feet.
▪ V. tong
var. tang n.1; obs. f. tongue; see also tongs. |