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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

The two men could hear a heavy tonga clatter up, followed by the light, whirring grind of dogcart wheels and a medley of voices.

From The Three Sapphires by W. A. Fraser

At a sharp order from Swinton the tonga followed, the driver, eager to see the fray, carrying them along at perilous speed.

From The Three Sapphires by W. A. Fraser

There was a mail, the ghost of a tonga, with tattered side-cloths and patched roof, inconceivably filthy within and without, and it was Her Majesty's.

From From Sea to Sea Letters of Travel by Rudyard Kipling

In its nomination, Tonga highlighted A-Baki's roles as a cabinet minister, the first women ambassador from Ecuador to Washington and ambassador to Qatar.

From Barron's ● Aug. 18, 2026

The second encounter occurred during a 2024 expedition to the Tonga Trench aboard the R/V Dagon as part of the Inkfish Open Ocean Expedition, led by scientists from the Minderoo-UWA Deep-Sea Research Center.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 8, 2026

Tonga Nolan grew up in a predominantly Black neighborhood on the north side of Baton Rouge and remembers it fondly as a tight-knit community.

From Salon ● May 10, 2026

England's first match at the Rugby World Cup, a pool-stage meeting with Tonga in Brisbane, is less than 16 months away.

From BBC ● May 5, 2026

When Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai erupted in January 2022, the island nation of Tonga was largely disconnected from the rest of the world.

From "Mountain of Fire" by Rebecca E. F. Barone