TANG, tang, _n._ a twang or sharp sound.--_v.t._ to cause to ring.--_v.i._
to ring. [Imit., like _twang_.]
TANG, tang, _n._ a strong or offensive taste, esp. of something extraneous:
relish: taste: specific flavour.--_adj._ TANG'Y. [A special use of _tang_,
point.]
TANG, tang, _n._ a point, the tapering part of a knife or tool which goes
into the haft. [Ice. _tangi_; cog. with _tongs_.]
[Illustration]
TANGENT, tan'jent, _n._ a line which touches a curve, and which when
produced does not cut it.--_ns._ TAN'GENCY, TAN'GENCE, state of being
tangent: a contact or touching.--_adj._ TANGEN'TIAL, of or pertaining to a
tangent: in the direction of a tangent.--_n._ TANGENTIAL'ITY.--_adv._
TANGEN'TIALLY, in the direction of a tangent.--GO OFF, or FLY OFF, AT A
TANGENT, to break off suddenly into a different line of thought, &c. [L.
_tangens_, _-entis_, pr.p. of _tang[)e]re_, to touch.]
TANGERINE, tan-je-r[=e]n', _adj._ relating to _Tangiers_ on the Morocco
coast.--_n._ a native of Tangiers: a Tangerine orange.
TANGHIN, tang'gin, _n._ a vegetable poison of Madagascar, acting upon the
heart like digitalis--formerly used for the judicial ordeal.
TANGIBLE, tan'ji-bl, _adj._ perceptible by the touch: capable of being
possessed or realised.--_ns._ TANGIB'IL[=E], a tactile sensation or object;
TANGIBIL'ITY, quality of being tangible or perceptible to the touch;
TAN'GIBLENESS, the state or quality of being tangible.--_adv._ TAN'GIBLY.
[L. _tangibilis_--_tang[)e]re_.]
TANGIE, tang'i, _n._ an Orcadian water-spirit, appearing as a seahorse, or
man covered with seaweed.
TANGLE, tang'gl, _n._ a knot of things united confusedly: an edible
seaweed: a perplexity, complication: (_Scot._) any long hanging thing, even
a lank person: an apparatus for dredging.--_v.t._ to unite together
confusedly: to interweave: to ensnare, entangle.--_n._ TANG'LEFOOT
(_U.S._), whisky, &c.--_adj._ TANG'LESOME (_prov._), quarrelsome.--_adv._
TANG'LINGLY.--_adj._ TANG'LY, in a tangle: united confusedly: covered with
tangle or seaweed. [Scand.; Dan. _tang_, Ice. _thang_, seaweed.]
TANGRAM, tan'gram, _n._ a Chinese puzzle, consisting of a square of wood
cut into seven pieces of various shapes.
TANGUM, tang'gum, _n._ the Tibetan piebald horse.
TANIST, tan'ist, _n._ the chief or holder of lands, &c., in certain Celtic
races, also the chief's elective successor.--_n._ TAN'ISTRY, an ancient
Celtic mode of tenure, according to which the right of succession lay not
with the individual, but with the family in which it was hereditary, and by
the family the holder of office or lands was elected. [Ir. and Gael.
_tanaiste_, lord--_tan_, country.]
TANITE, tan'[=i]t, _n._ an emery cement.
TANJIB, tan'jib, _n._ a kind of figured muslin made in Oude.--Also TAN'ZIB.
TANK, tangk, _n._ a large basin or cistern: a reservoir of water.--_v.t._
to cause to flow into a tank: to plunge into a tank.--_ns._ TANK'AGE, the
act of storing oil, &c., in tanks: the price charged for such storage: the
capacity of a tank or series of tanks; TANK'-CAR, a railway-car for
carrying petroleum in bulk in a long cylindrical tank; TANK'-EN'GINE, a
locomotive that carries the water and coal it requires; TANK'-WORM, a
nematode worm in the mud of tanks in India. [Port. _tanque_ (Sp.
_estanque_, O. Fr. _estang_)--L. _stagnum_, a stagnant pool.]
TANKA, tan'ka, _n._ the boat population of Canton, inhabiting permanently
the so-called tanka-boats, about 25 feet long.--Also TAN'KIA.
TANKARD, tangk'ard, _n._ a large vessel for holding liquors: a
drinking-vessel with a lid. [O. Fr. _tanquard_, prob. from L.
_cantharus_--Gr. _kantharos_.]
TANNER, tan'[.e]r, _n._ (_slang_) a sixpence. [Said to be Gipsy _tano_,
little.]
TANNIN, tan'in, _n._ an astringent substance found largely in oak-bark or
gall-nuts, of great use in tanning.--_n._ TANN'ATE, a salt of tannic
acid.--_adjs._ TANN'IC; TANNIF'EROUS, yielding tannin.--_n._ TAN'-RIDE, an
enclosure spread with tan for riding.--TANNIC ACID, an acid forming the
astringent principle of the bark of oak and other trees, used in tanning
and in medicine. [Fr. _tannin_.]
TANREC=_Tenrec_ (q.v.).
TANSY, tan'zi, _n._ a genus of composite plants allied to
_Artemisia_--Common tansy is a bitter, aromatic plant with small yellow
flowers, common on old pasture: a pudding or cake flavoured with tansy,
eaten at Easter. [O. Fr. _tanasie_, through Late L., from Gr. _athanasia_,
immortality.]
TANTALISE, tan'ta-l[=i]z, _v.t._ to torment by presenting something to
excite desire, but keeping it out of reach.--_ns._ TANTALIS[=A]'TION, the
act of tantalising: state of being tantalised; TAN'TALISER, one who, or
that which, tantalises.--_adv._ TAN'TALISINGLY.--_ns._ TAN'TALISM, the
punishment of Tantalus: a tormenting; TAN'TALUS, a spirit-case that locks;
TAN'TALUS-CUP, a philosophical toy, having a siphon within the figure of a
man whose chin is on a level with its bend. [_Tantalus_, in Gr. mythology,
who stood in Tartarus up to his chin in water, with branches of fruit over
his head, the water receding when he wished to drink, and the fruit when he
wished to eat.]
TANTALUM, tan'tal-um, _n._ a very rare metal of no practical importance,
discovered in 1801, closely allied to columbium or niobium.
TANTALUS, tan'ta-lus, _n._ the wood-ibis, a genus of birds of the stork
family, quite distinct from the true ibises.
TANTAMOUNT, tan'ta-mownt, _adj._ amounting to so much or to the same:
equivalent: equal in value or meaning.--_n._ TAN'TITY, the fact of being or
having so much.--_adv._ TAN'TO (_mus._), so much or too much. [O. Fr.,
_tant_--L. _tantum_, so much, so great, and O. Fr. _amonter_, to amount.]