thong

American  

[thawng, thong] / θɔŋ, θɒŋ /

noun

• thongs
  plural

1. a strip of material, especially of leather or hide, used to fasten or secure something.

2. a strip of leather or hide used for whipping; whiplash.

3. a shoe or slipper fastened to the foot chiefly by a strip of leather or other material passing between the first and second toes and often attaching to another strip of material, as a strap across the instep or around the ankle.

4. a brief garment for the lower body that exposes the buttocks, consisting of a strip of fabric passing between the thighs and attached to a band around the waist.

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thong British  

/ θɒŋ /

noun

1. a thin strip of leather or other material, such as one used for lashing things together

2. a whip or whiplash, esp one made of leather

3. the usual name for flip-flop

4. 1. a skimpy article of beachwear, worn by men or women, consisting of thin strips of leather or cloth attached to a piece of material that covers the genitals while leaving the buttocks bare

   2. a similar item of underwear

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• thonged
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• thongs
  plural

Etymology

Origin of thong

before 950; Middle English; Old English thwong; akin to Old Norse thvengr strap, thvinga to compel

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

thong thongs

Now think of all the trends that originated with those two: the selfie, purse dogs, contouring, thong heels, public awareness of and/or emotional investment in Kylie and Caitlyn Jenner, to name a few.

From Salon ● Feb. 3, 2022

Watching “Do It Debbie’s Way,” I picture a trio of women in 1983: Fisher posing in her iron thong, Reynolds lunging in her raspberry spandex, and Winters lounging in her oversized sweatshirt.

From The New Yorker ● Apr. 9, 2019

Don’t wear thong underwear, for instance, because those garments “allow bacteria to travel easier to the urethra,” Berkeley explains.

From Washington Post ● Feb. 3, 2017

Michael Jordan wore his basketball shorts from North Carolina beneath his Chicago Bulls' version his entire pro career and Yankees slugger Jason Giambi famously donned a thong every time his batting average plummeted.

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 2, 2011

Finally he reached into his blue shirt and pulled forward the leather thong that hung there.

From "Gathering Blue" by Lois Lowry

The most standout looks so far have included bejeweled thongs, color-coordinated snapbacks and sneakers and pleated, baggy jorts.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 20, 2025

"I raced down… but there was no sign of him, just his thongs on the bank and nothing else," his friend John Peiti told the Cape York Weekly.

From BBC ● May 2, 2023

For many women, after years of thongs and underwire bras, it was a relief to wear clothes that didn’t hurt.

From Seattle Times ● Jul. 3, 2021

Suffice it to say that you will never look at dungeons, mortars and pestles, thongs, hairnets, curry, tennis umpires’ chairs and Jacques Lacan’s writing in the same way.

From New York Times ● Feb. 1, 2021

Through these she ran leather thongs and tied them together.

From "Julie of the Wolves" by Jean Craighead George