tongues wag


People are gossiping. For example, Tongues wagged when another police car was parked in front of their house, or Their arrival in a stretch limousine set the neighbors' tongues wagging. This metaphoric expression transfers the rapid movement of the tongue to idle or indiscreet chatter. [Late 1500s]

Words Nearby tongues wag

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

How to use tongues wag in a sentence

  • Should I keep her in my household and let the tongues wag, as they were doing, or clatter if Zoe should have a child?

    Children of the Market Place | Edgar Lee Masters
  • Now or never must he snatch her from difficulty and disgrace—let hostile tongues wag as they pleased—and make her his.

    The Marriage of William Ashe | Mrs. Humphry Ward
  • Who would think that those long dusty boxes on the shelves were making scores of iron tongues wag hundreds of miles off?

  • Deign to keep it in heart, for the neighbours' tongues wag as to Iémon and O'Hana.

    The Yotsuya Kwaidan or O'Iwa Inari | James S. De Benneville
  • Their tongues wag like flowing water until the passers-by are attracted to their stalls.

    Tales of Old Japan | Algernon Bertram Freeman-Mitford