TONG

Tong

The word tong means "hall" or "gathering place". In North America a tong is a type of organization found among Chinese living in the United States and Canada. These organizations are described as secret societies or sworn brotherhoods and are often tied to criminal activity. Today in most American Chinatowns, if one can read Chinese, one can find clearly marked tong halls, many of which have had affiliations with Chinese crime gangs, especially in the 1990s.

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tong

Noun

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

Noun (etymology 2)

  1. A Chinese secret society or gang.

Verb

  1. To use tongs.
  2. To grab, manipulate or transport something using tongs.


The above text is a snippet from Wiktionary: tong
and as such is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

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