thong

From Middle English thong, thwong, thwang, from Old English þwong, þwang, þweng, þwæng (“thong, band, strap, cord, strip of leather; phylactery”), from Proto-Germanic *þwangiz, *þwanguz (“coercion, constraint, band, clamp, strap”), from Proto-Indo-European *twenk- (“to squeeze, press, pressure”). Cognate with Scots thwang, thwayng, thang (“thong”), Middle Low German dwenge (“clamp, jaws, steel-trap”), German Zwinge (“vise, clamp”), Norwegian dialectal tveng (“shoestrap, shoelace”), Icelandic þvengur (“strap, thong, latchet”).

• enPR: thŏng, IPA^(key): /θɒŋ/

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thong (plural thongs)

1. A strip of leather.
2. (usually in the plural, Australia, US) An item of footwear, usually of rubber, secured by two straps which join to pass between the big toe and its neighbour.
   • 1964, The Beach Boys, All Summer Long

     T-shirts, cut-offs, and a pair of thongs (T-shirts, cut-offs, and a pair of thongs).

   • 2006, Peter Murray, David Poole, Grant Jones, Contemporary Issues in Management and Organisational Behaviour, Thomson, page 108,

     Players turned up for questioning wearing thongs, shorts and T-shirts.

   • 2008, Steve Parish, Eccentric Australia‎, page 104:

     Thongs are the favoured footwear for many Aussies, especially near the beaches, but most people in the Outback find that they can′t put a foot wrong with a tough, nicely worn-in pair or workboots.

   • 2009, Charles Rawlings-Way, Sydney, Lonely Planet, page 126,

     You shouldn′t face condescension if you rock into a boutique in your thongs and a singlet, but neither will you be treated like a princess just because you′ve splashed $5000 on daddy′s credit card.

3. (Britain, US, New Zealand) An undergarment or swimwear consisting of very narrow strips designed to cover just the genitals and nothing more.

   No! I won't buy you a thong. You're too young for that.

4. The largest section of a bullwhip constructed of many straps of braided leather.

• (an item of footwear): flip-flop, jandal (New Zealand)
• (a undergarment or swimwear): G-string, butt floss

• sandal