tonga

plural tongas · alternative tanga

1. IndiaA light, two-wheeled, horse-drawn carriage used for transportation in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.

   When his tyre went flat, he leapt off and shouted for a tonga.

   1924, EM Forster, A Passage to India, Penguin, published 2005, page 13

   2 more examples

   Coming up along the Cart-Road a tonga passed me, and my pony, tired with standing so long, set off at a canter.

   1890, Rudyard Kipling, Plain Tales from the Hills

   The Muslim ladies who earlier moved out in covered palanquins, dolis and muhafas or completely veiled coaches and victorias are now obliged to go about in tongas, rikshaws and buses leaving aside the earlier scruples.

   1972, Abulhasan 'Ali Nadvi, The Musalman, page 42

1. uncountablemedicineA drug useful in neuralgia, derived from a Fijian plant supposed to be of the aroid genus Epipremnum.

1. A country and archipelago of Polynesia in Oceania. Official name: Kingdom of Tonga. Capital and largest city: Nuku'alofa.

1. A Bantu language, in the Nyasa branch, spoken in Malawi.

   Synonyms: Chitonga

1. A Bantu language, in the Botatwe branch, spoken in Zambia and Zimbabwe.

   Enela cleared their way through the throng, speaking in Tonga, a heavy language that freighted the air with ceremony.

   2019, Namwali Serpell, The Old Drift, Hogarth

   Synonyms: Chitonga, Zambezi

1. A Bantu language spoken in Mozambique.

   Synonyms: Gitonga

plural Tongas

1. A surname.

1. A barangay of Balud, Masbate, Philippines.