tartar Hear it!

tartar definition

tar·tar (tärt′ər)

noun

  1. cream of tartar, esp. the crude form present in grape juice and forming a reddish or whitish, crustlike deposit (argol) in wine casks
  2. a hard deposit on the teeth, consisting of saliva proteins, food deposits, various salts, as calcium phosphate, etc.; dental calculus

Etymology: ME < ML tartarum < MGr tartaron < ?

Tartar definition

Tar·tar (tärt′ər)

noun

  1. Tatar
  2. an irritable, violent, intractable person

Etymology: ME Tartre < ML Tartarus, a Tatar, altered (after Tartarus) < Pers Tātār

adjective

Tatar
Tartar Idioms

catch a tartar

to attack or oppose someone too strong for one; get more than one bargained for

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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tartar or Tartar139 years ago

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