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Glite Dictionary
to play tonk

to play tonk

9.9
Take part in the card game tonk
  • phrasal verb
  • US
translation icon : jugar al tonk
  • Instead of watching TV, the group decided to play tonk after dinner.

Examples

  • John and I play tonk every weekend.

  • Every Friday night, we gather at my house to play tonk for a few hours.

  • She learned to play tonk from her older brothers when she was a teenager.

  • Let's play tonk tonight!

  • They decided to play tonk instead of going out for dinner.

  • On rainy days, we often gather to play tonk with friends.

  • Every Saturday night, we play tonk at my uncle's house.

Surface Forms

play tonk infinitive
played tonk past
played tonk past participle
playing tonk present participle
plays tonk third person singular

Morphology

play + tonk

The meaning 'to participate in the card game called tonk' is directly and compositionally derived from 'play' (to take part in a game) plus 'tonk' (the name of a game). The verb + game-name pattern is a regular, cross-linguistically common construction, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily understand the MWE.

Etymology

Play tonk may come from the sound tonk made when players slapped a card down or hit the table during the game. So, to play tonk means 'to take part in that card game'.