tang

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tang1 / tang/ • n. 1. [in sing.] a strong taste, flavor, or smell: the clean salty tang of the sea. ∎  a characteristic quality: the tang of finality hovers throughout Tolstoy's story.2. the projection on the blade of a tool such as a knife, by which the blade is held firmly in the handle.tang2 • v. [intr.] make a loud ringing or clanging sound: the bronze bell tangs.• n. a tanging sound.tang3 • n. a surgeonfish (genus Acanthurus) that occurs around reefs and rocky areas, where it browses on algae. Its several species include the blue tang (A. coeruleus) of the western Atlantic.

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