# tong

> English word · Noun · IPA /tɒŋ/ · frequency rank #21,681

## Definitions
1. An instrument or tool used for manipulating things in a fire without touching them with the hands.

## Etymology
From Middle English tonge (“tongs, fang”), tange, from Old English tange, from Proto-West Germanic *tangu, from Proto-Germanic *tangō, from Proto-Indo-European *denḱ- (“to bite”). Cognate with Old Norse tǫng (modern Icelandic töng), Old High German zanga (modern German Zange). Other cognates include Sanskrit दशति (dáśati, “to bite”) and Albanian dang (“bite, nip”).

## Easily confused with
- **too** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tong-vs-too)
- **top** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tong-vs-top)
- **toy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tong-vs-toy)
- **tow** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tong-vs-tow)
- **tor** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tong-vs-tor)
- **tug** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tong-vs-tug)
- **TOS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tong-vs-tos)
- **tot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tong-vs-tot)
- **tun** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tong-vs-tun)
- **TOV** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tong-vs-tov)
- **took** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tong-vs-took)
- **town** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tong-vs-town)
- **tour** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tong-vs-tour)
- **Tony** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tong-vs-tony)
- **tool** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tong-vs-tool)
- **tons** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tong-vs-tons)
- **tune** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tong-vs-tune)
- **toys** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tong-vs-toys)
- **torn** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tong-vs-torn)
- **tops** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tong-vs-tops)

## Common misspellings (6)
`otng`, `tnog`, `togn`, `tongg`, `tonng`, `ttong`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/tong