tong
8
9.9
- noun
- /tɔŋ/
- US
:
sociedad secreta china
- As long as I have total access to Burma... the Tongs are welcome to grow and prosper anywhere I have business.
- rival tongs
- powerful tong
Examples
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A united tong is powerful enough to push other syndicates... out of business.
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Historically, the tong played a significant role in supporting Chinese immigrants in America.
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On the arm of every Chinese tong member... is tattooed a symbol from the emperor's code.
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The reason for the special precaution was the arrival of an emissary of the most powerful rival tong, the Sue Yops.
Fiction book (1992) -
The fleeing pair had traveled fast, but the news of the great battle raging between the rival tongs seemed to have traveled even faster.
Fiction book (1992) -
Several Chinese merchants had come to complain that boo-how-doys from rival Tongs had vandalized their businesses and injured their employees.
Fiction book (1992) -
These groups have formed occasional links with Asian-American secret societies and merchants' guilds, called "tongs," as well as with legitimate overseas Chinese businesses.
Academic text (1995) -
The powerful tong in my neighborhood controls most of the local businesses.
-
Members of the tong often participate in events to strengthen their community ties.
Synonyms
A secret Chinese group of people with a shared goal
Compounds
Surface Forms
Etymology
Tong for a Chinese society comes from a Chinese word meaning 'hall' or 'meeting place', because these groups met in a hall to help and protect each other. So a tong is a community group or club that offered support to its members.