tong

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• transitive verb To seize, hold, or manipulate with tongs.
• noun A Chinese association or political party.
• noun An association or a secret society of Chinese in the United States, believed to be involved in organized crime.

from The Century Dictionary.

• To seize, hold, or take with tongs.
• To handle or use tongs; capture something, as oysters, with tongs.
• noun An old spelling of tongue.
• noun One of a number of holding- and lifting-instruments of various forms.
• noun [Tongs were formerly used in rough burlesque music:
• noun In diamond-cutting, a two-footed wooden stand that has at one end a vise-like iron holder, into which the dop containing the diamond is fastened, holding the diamond against the wheel.
• noun plural A device for anchoring the body of a car to the track when it is not in use.
• noun plural Trousers.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• noun In China, an association, secret society, or organization of any kind; in the United States, usually, a secret association of Chinese such as that of the highbinders; in the U. S. the tongs have been frequently associated with criminal activity and gang warfare.
• noun obsolete Tongue.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun An instrument or tool used for manipulating things in a fire without touching them with the hands.
• verb intransitive To use tongs.
• verb transitive To grab, manipulate or transport something using tongs.
• noun A Chinese secret society or gang.