ngongo
1. (verb) (-a,-hia,-tia) to suck, suck up, inhale, suck out, drink (with a straw), siphon.
He wā anō tō te kākā e mahia ai (arā e patua ai), kei ngā wā e pua ai ngā puāwai o ngā rātā, ka kitea te nui o te kākā e rere ana ki te ngongo i te wai o roto i te puāwai o te rātā (JPS 1895:135). / But the season is different for the kākā which are hunted when the flowers of the rātā bloom, and many kākā are seen flying to suck the nectar in the flowers.
2. (verb) to sail close to the wind, bear up into the wind.
Ā ka kahakina te kaipuke, tē ngongo ki te hau, nā ka tukua e mātou ki tāna, ā ka paea (PT 27:15). / And when the ship was caught, and could not bear up into the wind, we let her drive.
3. (verb) to waste away, become thin - sometimes used figuratively in the phrase ngongo ngā pāpāringa for old age.
Otirā e kore pea tātou nei e kite, tēnei ka ngongo nei ngā pāpāringa (TWMNT 19/5/1874:138). / But we who are wasting away, probably won't see that.
4. (noun) nectar, juice of flowers, honey.
E kai ana i te ngongo kōrari (W 1971:234). / Eating the flax flower nectar.
Synonyms: waihonga
5. (noun) sucking out, suction.
He kaiota te manu nei. Ko ētahi o āna tino kai, ko ngā kākano, ngā rau, ngā tātā me ngā pakiaka o ētahi tipu. Ka kaikainga ngā mea kākoa, me te ngongo i te pia o roto (HM 4/1998:4). / This bird is a herbivore. Some of its staple foods are seeds, leaves, stalks and the roots of some plants. Fibrous things are eaten and the sap inside is sucked out.
6. (noun) tube, drinking straw.
7. (noun) inhaler.
E ai ki ētahi rangahau hou kāore ngā tāngata whakamahi i taua ngongo i te whakatūrorotia, me te aha kua heke iho te maremare me te tīmohu, ā, kei te pakari ake ō rātou tinana (Te Kaea 21/1/2015). / According to some new research, people using the inhaler are not being harmed, and what's more there's a reduction in coughing and asthma, and their bodies are stronger.
