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tongue-shaped

tongue-shaped

1 5.1
A long, narrow shape with one rounded end like a small flap
  • adjective
  • /ˈtʌŋˌʃeɪpt/
translation icon : en forma de lengua
  • The artist created a sculpture with tongue-shaped elements to symbolize communication.

Examples

  • The plant features distinct, tongue-shaped leaves that add an unusual aesthetic to the garden.

  • They worked until it was nearly dark, dividing the cow into large segments, then cutting the meat into small, tongue-shaped pieces and hanging them to dry over makeshift racks made of brushwood, but they still didn't finish.

    Fiction book (1990)
  • It's a cat tongue shaped synthetic tacquered brush.

  • At 4-5 DFS, small green tongue-shaped gametophytes with clear, threadlike rhizoids can be seen emerging from the cracked spore coat.

    Academic text (1998)
  • He described the newly discovered species as having tongue-shaped flowers that attract pollinators.

Synonyms

lingulate
vstongue-shaped
  • Specialized
9.9

Shaped like a tongue

has the same meaning but uses a more common descriptive form
tonguelike
vstongue-shaped
6.6

Shaped like a tongue and often used to touch things

focuses only on shape rather than on function

Surface Forms

tongue-shaped positive

Morphology

tongue-shaped = tongue + shape (transparent) = tongue + shape + ed

The meaning is directly recoverable from 'tongue' plus the productive participial form 'shaped'.

Etymology

Tongue-shaped comes from the simple word tongue, the soft part in your mouth, plus the ending -shaped, so it means 'having the form of a tongue'. Think of a long, flat, slightly curved shape, like your tongue, to remember it.