Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Tong

Tong , noun

Tongue. [Obsolete] — Chaucer

Also: Tonge

Tong , noun

[Chinese t'ang, lit., hall.]

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.