double-tongued









double-tongued


double-tongued [duhb-uh l-tuhngd] ExamplesWord Origin adjective

  1. deceitful; hypocritical.

Origin of double-tongued 1350–1400; Middle English dowble tungid double-tongue [duhb-uh l-tuhng] verb (used without object), dou·ble-tongued, dou·ble-tongu·ing. Music.

  1. to interrupt the wind flow by moving the tongue as if pronouncing t and k alternately, especially in playing rapid passages or staccato notes on a brass instrument.

Compare triple-tongue. Examples from the Web for double-tongued Historical Examples of double-tongued

  • This double-tongued talker is not unfrequently met with in public meetings.

    Talkers

    John Bate

  • Margaret said she thought she was weeping because they were so double-tongued with her.

    The Cloister and the Hearth

    Charles Reade

  • Who art thou, false, double-tongued betrayer, That wouldst frighten and perplex me?

    The Life of Friedrich Schiller

    Thomas Carlyle

  • Silly credulity may take this as a proof how much evil a double-tongued man may often contrive.

    The Fables of Phdrus

    Phaedrus

  • It was a contest in which Leicester revelled—simplicity and single-mindedness against the multifarious and double-tongued.

    A Ladder of Swords

    Gilbert Parker

  • British Dictionary definitions for double-tongued double-tongued adjective

    1. deceitful or hypocritical in speech

    double-tongue verb -tongues, -tonguing or -tongued

    1. music to play (fast staccato passages) on a wind instrument by rapid obstruction and uncovering of the air passage through the lips with the tongueCompare single-tongue, triple-tongue

    Derived Formsdouble tonguing, noun

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