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tar1 definition

tar (tär)

noun

  1. a thick, sticky, brown to black liquid with a pungent odor, obtained by the destructive distillation of wood, coal, peat, shale, etc.: tars are composed of hydrocarbons and their derivatives, and are used for protecting and preserving surfaces, in making various organic compounds, etc.
  2. loosely any of the solids in smoke, as from tobacco

Etymology: ME terre < OE teru < PGmc *terw(i)a-, substance from trees < IE base *deru-, tree

transitive verb tarred, tarring tar′·ring

to cover or smear with or as with tar

adjective

  1. of or like tar
  2. covered with tar; tarred
tar Idioms

tar and feather

☆
to cover (a person) with tar and feathers as in punishment by mob action

tarred with the same brush

or tarred with the same stick
having similar faults or obnoxious traits
tar2 definition

tar (tär)

noun

Informal a sailor

Etymology: < tar(paulin)

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Alternate definitions:

hacker Tar definition - hacker

idioms tar idiom

tar Synonyms

tar

n.

  1. A viscous liquid

    pitch, mineral pitch, coal tar, wood tar, lignite tar, distillate, asphalt, roofing cement, resin; see also gum.

  2. *A sailor

    seaman, navy man, blue jacket, mariner, seafarer, old salt*, barnacle*, Jack*, Jack Tar*, middy*, limey* (British); see also sailor 1, 2.


Webster's New World Roget's A-Z Thesaurus Copyright © 1999 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

tar Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • melt: The next morning there was a large hole in the road as the heat from the bonfire had melted the tar!

Adjective modifier

  • crude: In 1817, the GLCC decided to process all its crude tar itself, instead of selling it.

Modifies a noun

  • -xvf: Unpacked it with gunzip and the run the tar -xvf comman on it.

Noun used with modifier

  • coal: Many of these stains were coal tar dyes developed in a dazzling array for the textile industry.
tar usage examples (more)

The word usage examples above have been gathered from various sources to reflect current and historical usage. They do not represent the opinions of YourDictionary.com.

tar quotes

I had written him a letter which I had, for want of better Knowledge, sent to where I met him, down the Lachlan, years ago. He was shearing when I knew him, so I sent the letter to him, Just 'on spec', addressed as follows: 'Clancy, of the Overflow'. And an answer came directed in a writing unexpected, (And I think the same was written with a thumbnail dipped in tar) 'Twas his shearing mate who wrote it, and verbatim I will quote it: 'Clancy's gone to Queensland droving, and we don't know where he are.'

-Paterson, Banjo (Andrew Barton)

tar quotes (more)

Webster's New World Dictionary of Quotations Copyright © 2005 by Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Published by Wiley, Hoboken, NJ. Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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MLA Style

"tar." Webster's New World College Dictionary. 2009

  • Your Dictionary. 5 July 2009
  • <www.yourdictionary.com/tar>

APA Style

tar. (2009). In Webster's New World College Dictionary

  • Retrieved July 5th, 2009, from www.yourdictionary.com/tar

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