Nearby Words
Colgate Total® Toothpaste colgatetotal.colgate.com/ Learn about #1 Toothpaste recommended most by Dentists.
Tartare www.ask.com/Tartare Find Tartare Q&A Results Tartare
Dictionary.com Mobile www.dictionary.com/mobile Join 45 Million Happy Mobile Users Today On Our Award-Winning Four Star App. Download Now!
Ads
noun
1.
a member of any of the various tribes, chiefly Mongolian and Turkish, who, originally under the leadership of Genghis Khan, overran Asia and much of eastern Europe in the Middle Ages.
2.
a member of the descendants of this people variously intermingled with other peoples and tribes, now inhabiting parts of the European and W and central Asian Russian Federation.
3.
Tatar (defs. 1–3).
4.
(often lowercase) a savage, intractable person.
5.
(often lowercase) an ill-tempered person.
adjective
6.
of or pertaining to a Tartar or Tartars; Tartarian.
00:10
00:09
00:08
00:07
00:06
00:05
00:04
00:03
00:02
00:01
Catch a Tartar
is always a great word to know.
So is doohickey. Does it mean:
| a gadget; dingus; thingumbob. |
| a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes. |
8.
catch a Tartar, to deal with someone or something that proves unexpectedly troublesome or powerful. Also, catch a tartar.
Origin:
1350–1400; Middle English < Medieval Latin Tartarus, perhaps variant of *Tātārus < Persian Tātār, by association with Tartarus; replacing Middle English Tartre < Middle French < Medieval Latin, as above
1350–1400; Middle English < Medieval Latin Tartarus, perhaps variant of *Tātārus < Persian Tātār, by association with Tartarus; replacing Middle English Tartre < Middle French < Medieval Latin, as above
Related forms
Tar·tar·ly, adverb
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source
|
Link To catch a Tartar
American Heritage
Idioms & Phrases
catch a Tartar
Seek out something or someone that turns out to be unexpectedly unpleasant or formidable, as in Now that she finally agreed to meet with you, you just might find that you've caught a Tartar. In this term, Tartar signifies a difficult or sometimes violent individual, referring to Turkic and Mongolian invaders of Asia in the Middle Ages. [Mid-1600s]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
Cite This Source
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
Cite This Source
Word Dynamo By Dictionary.com
Dictionary.com, LLC. Copyright © 2012. All rights reserved.
