Etymology From Middle English tange, variant of tonge (“tongs, fang”), from Old Norse tangi (“pointed metal tool”), perhaps related to Old Norse tunga (“tongue”). But see also Middle Dutch tanger (“sharp, tart, pinching”).
The miraculous air, heady with ozone and made memorably sweet by leagues of wild flowerets, gave tang and savour to the breath.1904, O. Henry, The Missing Chord:
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To make yogurt, milk or cream is pasteurized and homogenized, then Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophiles bacteria are added to convert the lactose into lactic acid. This is what thickens it, and gives it the distinct tang.2022 July 18, “Food for Thought: A Short History of Yogurt”, in BC Dairy:
2
A strong or offensive taste; especially, a taste of something extraneous to the thing itself.
Such proceedings had a strong tang of tyranny.1655, Thomas Fuller, The Church-history of Britain; […], London: […] Iohn Williams […], →OCLC, (please specify |book=I to XI):
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a cant of philosophism, and a tang of party politics1806, Francis Jeffrey, “Memoirs of Dr. Priestley”, in The Edinburgh Review:
What, was it I who bared my heart / Through unrelenting years, / And knew the sting of misery's dart, / The tang of sorrow's tears?1913, Paul Laurence Dunbar, At Sunset Time:
4
A projecting part of an object by means of which it is secured to a handle, or to some other part.
(archaic)
slip the cable over the tang
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"And inside the joints, these so-called O-rings are supposed to expand to make a seal—is that right?" ¶ "Yes, sir. In static conditions they should be in direct contact with the tang and clevis and squeezed twenty-thousandths of an inch."1988, Richard Feynman, Ralph Leighton, "What Do You Care What Other People Think?": Further Adventures of a Curious Character, New York, N.Y.; London: W. W. Norton & Company, →OCLC, page 150:
5
The part of a knife, fork, file, or other instrument or hand tool, which is inserted into the handle.
full-tang
A full-tang knife is strongest against handle breakage, but partial-tang knives are common because of a combination of facts: they are inexpensive, and in some applications any manner of use that would exceed the handle's limit is not an appropriate manner of use.
› A projecting part of an object by means of… › The part of a knife, fork, file, or other…
6
The part of a sword blade to which the handle is fastened.
I spent the evening collecting the abandoned nests of birds from a rock face a half league distant, and that night I struck fire from the tang of Terminus Est and boiled the coarse meal (which took a long time to cook, because of the altitude) and ate it.1982, Gene Wolfe, chapter 27, in The Sword of the Lictor (The Book of the New Sun; 3), New York: Timescape, →ISBN, page 200:
1667, John Lacy, Sauny the Scot: Or, the Taming of the Shrew, Act V, Sauny Hear ye, sir; could not ye mistake, and pull her tang out instead of her teeth?
10
Broadly Anything resembling a tongue in form or position, such as the tongue of a buckle.
Agriculture, Beekeeping, Business, LifestyleDated To strike two metal objects together loudly in order to persuade a swarm of honeybees to land so it may be captured by the beekeeper.
2
To make a ringing sound; to ring.
let thy tongue tang arguments of statec. 1601–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Twelfe Night, or What You Will”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene v]:
tang
noun
Etymology Imitative
1
A sharp, twanging sound; an unpleasant tone; a twang.
tang
noun
Etymology Probably of Scandinavian origin; compare Danish tang (“seaweed”), Swedish tång, Icelandic þang