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• tonga
  tonga

  noun

  a light, two-wheeled, horse-drawn vehicle used in India.
• Tonga
  Tonga

  noun

  a Polynesian kingdom consisting of three groups of islands in the S Pacific, NE of New Zealand: a former British protectorate. About 270 sq. mi. (700 sq. km). Nukualofa.

tonga

¹ American  

[tong-guh] / ˈtɒŋ gə /

noun

1. a light, two-wheeled, horse-drawn vehicle used in India.

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Tonga ² American  

[tong-guh] / ˈtɒŋ gə /

noun

1. a Polynesian kingdom consisting of three groups of islands in the S Pacific, NE of New Zealand: a former British protectorate. About 270 sq. mi. (700 sq. km). Nukualofa.

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Tonga ¹ British  

/ ˈtɒŋə, ˈtɒŋɡə /

noun

1. a member of a Negroid people of S central Africa, living chiefly in Zambia and Zimbabwe

2. the language of this people, belonging to the Bantu group of the Niger-Congo family

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Tonga ² British  

/ ˈtɒŋə, ˈtɒŋɡə /

noun

1. Also called: Friendly Islands.  a kingdom occupying an archipelago of more than 150 volcanic and coral islands in the SW Pacific, east of Fiji: inhabited by Polynesians; became a British protectorate in 1900 and gained independence in 1970; a member of the Commonwealth. Official languages: Tongan and English. Religion: Christian majority. Currency: pa'anga. Capital: Nuku'alofa. Pop: 106 322 (2013 est). Area: 750 sq km (290 sq miles)

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tonga ³ British  

/ ˈtɒŋɡə /

noun

1. a light two-wheeled vehicle used in rural areas of India

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Etymology

Origin of tonga

First recorded in 1870–75, tonga is from the Hindi word tāṅgā

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

tonga Tonga

I suppose their might be a risk of some of the potential GB players competing for their home countries - tonga, samoa, south africa, new zealand, holland etc. but i'm sure it'll be good.

From The Guardian ● Aug. 7, 2012

"Na, na, damchee, na, na, damchee! " wailed the tongawalla to a British officer, who was trying to rent his two-wheeled tonga at an air base in India.

From Time Magazine Archive

"We shall get to Deoli in six hours," said Ram Baksh the boastful, and, even as he spoke, the spring of the tonga bar snapt "mit a harp-like melodious twang."

From From Sea to Sea Letters of Travel by Kipling, Rudyard

Then they climbed into tonga and dogcart, and sped homeward.

From The Three Sapphires by Fraser, W. A.

Ram Baksh ran the tonga to one side, into a rut, fetched up on a tree-stump, rebounded on to a rock, and struck the road again.

From From Sea to Sea Letters of Travel by Kipling, Rudyard

One was seen near a seamount close to Jarvis Island, while the other was recorded along the slope of the Tonga Trench.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 8, 2026

England's World Cup campaign in Australia begins against Tonga in Perth on 17 October, with games against France and Papua New Guinea to follow.

From BBC ● Apr. 23, 2026

We spent years leaving medical records scattered from Tonga to Iceland; it’s time for a bit more continuity of care.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 22, 2026

The crisis in global energy markets has been felt as far away as the south Pacific, where nations like Samoa and Tonga are heavily reliant on imported petroleum.

From Barron's ● Mar. 19, 2026

Among the more populous tropical islands, that option was ruled out for Tonga by its low elevation and hence its lack of rivers.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond