What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

Tongue vs Lip - What's the difference?

tongue | lip |

As a noun tongue

is the flexible muscular organ in the mouth that is used to move food around, for tasting and that is moved into various positions to modify the flow of air from the lungs in order to produce different sounds in speech.

As a verb tongue

is (music|ambitransitive) on a wind instrument, to articulate a note by starting the air with a tap of the tongue, as though by speaking a 'd' or 't' sound (alveolar plosive).

As an adverb lip is

.

tongue

English

(wikipedia tongue)

Alternative forms

* tounge (obsolete, now considered a misspelling''); tung (''informal/eye dialect ); tong, tonge, toong, toongue, toung, toungue, tunge (obsolete)

Noun

(en noun)
  • The flexible muscular organ in the mouth that is used to move food around, for tasting and that is moved into various positions to modify the flow of air from the lungs in order to produce different sounds in speech.
  • Any similar organ, such as the lingual ribbon, or odontophore, of a mollusk; the proboscis of a moth or butterfly; or the lingua of an insect.
  • A language.
    • He was speaking in his native tongue .
    The poem was written in her native tongue .
  • The power of articulate utterance; speech generally.
  • * Dryden
    • parrots imitating human tongue
  • (obsolete) Discourse; fluency of speech or expression.
  • * L'Estrange
    • Much tongue and much judgment seldom go together.
  • (obsolete) Honourable discourse; eulogy.
  • * Beaumont and Fletcher
    • She was born noble; let that title find her a private grave, but neither tongue nor honour.
  • (religion, often in the plural) Glossolalia.
  • In a shoe, the flap of material that goes between the laces and the foot, so called because it resembles a tongue in the mouth.
  • Any large or long physical protrusion on an automotive or machine part or any other part that fits into a long groove on another part.
  • A projection, or slender appendage or fixture.
    • the tongue of a buckle, or of a balance
  • A long, narrow strip of land, projecting from the mainland into a sea or lake.
  • The pole of a vehicle; especially, the pole of an ox cart, to the end of which the oxen are yoked.
  • The clapper of a bell.
  • (figuratively) An individual point of flame from a fire.
  • * 1895 , H. G. Wells, The Time Machine Chapter XI
    • Now, in this decadent age the art of fire-making had been altogether forgotten on the earth. The red tongues that went licking up my heap of wood were an altogether new and strange thing to Weena.
  • A small sole (type of fish).
  • (nautical) A short piece of rope spliced into the upper part of standing backstays, etc.; also, the upper main piece of a mast composed of several pieces.
  • (music) A reed.

    • Synonyms

    * (language) language, lingo (colloquial)

    Verb

  • (music, ambitransitive) On a wind instrument, to articulate a note by starting the air with a tap of the tongue, as though by speaking a 'd' or 't' sound (alveolar plosive).
    • Playing wind instruments involves tonguing on the reed or mouthpiece.
  • (slang) To manipulate with the tongue, as in kissing or oral sex.
  • To protrude in relatively long, narrow sections.
    • a soil horizon that tongues into clay
  • To join by means of a tongue and groove.
    • to tongue boards together
  • (obsolete) To talk; to prate.
    • (Dryden)
  • (obsolete) To speak; to utter.
  • * Shakespeare
    • such stuff as madmen tongue
  • (obsolete) To chide; to scold.
  • * Shakespeare
    • How might she tongue me.

    Derived terms

    * beef tongue * cat got someone's tongue * double tonguing * double-tongued * forked tongue * give tongue, give tongue to * hold one's tongue * law of the tongue * mother tongue * native tongue * roll off the tongue * sharp tongue * silver tongue * silver-tongued * speak in tongues * tongue and groove * tonguage * tongue depressor * tonguedom * tongue in cheek * tonguing * tongue lashing * tongueless * tonguely * tongueman * tongueness * tongue sandwich * tongue-shaped * tongueship * tonguesore * tongue-tie * tongue-tied * tongue twister * tonguey * tonguework * wicked tongue

    Anagrams

    *

    lip

    English

    Noun

  • (countable) Either of the two fleshy protrusions around the opening of the mouth.
  • * Bible, Jeb. xv. 6
    • Thine own lips testify against thee.
  • (countable) A part of the body that resembles a lip, such as the edge of a wound or the labia.
    • {{quote-Fanny Hill, part=2 , I twisted my thighs, squeezed, and compressed the lips of that virgin slit}}
  • (countable) The projecting rim of an open container; a short open spout.
  • (slang, uncountable) Backtalk; verbal impertinence.
    • Don’t give me any lip !
  • The edge of a high spot of land.
  • * 1913 ,
    • They toiled forward along a tiny path on the river’s lip . Suddenly it vanished. The bank was sheer red solid clay in front of them, sloping straight into the river.
  • * 1894 , David Livingstone, A Popular Account of Dr Livingstone's Expedition to the Zambesi and its Tributaries ,
    • We landed at the head of Garden Island, which is situated near the middle of the river and on the lip' of the Falls. On reaching that ' lip , and peering over the giddy height, the wondrous and unique character of the magnificent cascade at once burst upon us.
  • The sharp cutting edge on the end of an auger.
  • (botany) One of the two opposite divisions of a labiate corolla.
  • (botany) The distinctive petal of the Orchis family.
  • (zoology) One of the edges of the aperture of a univalve shell.

    • Synonyms

    * (either of the fleshy protrusions around the mouth) labium (medical term ) * (part of body resembling a lip) labium (medical) * (rim of an open container) edge, rim * (impertinence) backchat, cheek (informal), impudence, rudeness

    Derived terms

    * black lip * cleft lip * fat lip * lip gloss * lipless * liplike * lip-lock * lipped * lipping * lippy * lip-read * lip-reader * lip service * lip-smacking * lipstick * lip-strap * lip-synch * loose lip * tight-lipped

    Verb

  • To touch with the lips; to kiss or lick; to lap the lips against something.
  • * Praed
    • The bubble on the wine which breaks / Before you lip the glass.
  • * Shakespeare
    • A hand that kings / Have lipped and trembled kissing.
  • To utter verbally.
    • (Keats)
  • To simulate speech merely by lip-movement, as suffices for a lip-reader.
  • (sports) to make a golf ball hit the lip of the cup, without dropping in.
    • 1000 English basic words ----