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tar

 - 13 dictionary results
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tar

1  [tahr] ,noun, verb, tarred, tar⋅ring, adjective
Use tar in a Sentence
–noun
1. any of various dark-colored viscid products obtained by the destructive distillation of certain organic substances, as coal or wood.
2. coal-tar pitch.
3. smoke solids or components: cigarette tar.
–verb (used with object)
4. to smear or cover with or as if with tar.
–adjective
5. of or characteristic of tar.
6. covered or smeared with tar; tarred.
—Idioms
7. beat, knock, or whale the tar out of, Informal. to beat mercilessly: The thief had knocked the tar out of the old man and left him for dead.
8. tar and feather,
a. to coat (a person) with tar and feathers as a punishment or humiliation.
b. to punish severely: She should be tarred and feathered for what she has done.
9. tarred with the same brush, possessing the same shortcomings or guilty of the same misdeeds: The whole family is tarred with the same brush.
Origin:
bef. 900; (n.) ME tarr(e), ter(re), OE teru; c. D, G teer, ON tjara; akin to tree; (v.) ME terren, OE tierwian, deriv. of the n.
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tar

2  [tahr]
–noun Informal.
a sailor.
Origin:
1740–50; perh. short for tarpaulin

Synonyms:
seafarer, gob. See sailor.

Tar River

  [tahr]
a river in NE North Carolina, flowing SE to an estuary on Pamlico Sound. 217 mi. (349 km) long.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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tar 1   (tär)   
n.  

  1. A dark, oily, viscous material, consisting mainly of hydrocarbons, produced by the destructive distillation of organic substances such as wood, coal, or peat.

  2. Coal tar.

  3. A solid residue of tobacco smoke containing byproducts of combustion.

tr.v.   tarred, tar·ring, tars
To coat with or as if with tar.

[Middle English, from Old English teru; see deru- in Indo-European roots.]
tar 2   (tär)   
n.   Informal
A sailor.

[Possibly short for tarpaulin.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

tar  (n.1)
a viscous liquid, O.E. teoru, teru, lit. "the pitch of (certain kinds of) trees," from P.Gmc. *terwo- (cf. O.N. tjara, O.Fris. tera, M.Du. tar, Du. teer, Ger. Teer), probably a derivation of *trewo-, from PIE *drew- "tree" (cf. Skt. daru "wood;" Lith. darva "pine wood;" Gk. dory "beam, shaft of a spear," drys "tree, oak;" Goth. triu, O.E. treow "tree;" see tree). Tar baby is from an 1881 "Uncle Remus" story by Joel Chandler Harris. Tarheel for "North Carolina resident" first recorded 1864, probably from the gummy resin of pine woods. Tar water, an infusion of tar in cold water, was popular as a remedy from c.1740 through late 18c.

tar  (n.2)
"sailor," 1676, probably a special use of tar (n.1), which was a staple for waterproofing aboard old ships (sailors also being jocularly called knights of the tarbrush); or possibly a shortened form of tarpaulin, which was recorded as a nickname for a sailor in 1647, from the tarpaulin garments they wore.

tar  (v.)
in tar and feather, 1769. A mob action in U.S. in Revolutionary times and several decades thereafter. Originally it had been imposed by an ordinance of Richard I (1189) as punishment in the navy for theft. Among other applications over the years was its use in 1623 by a bishop on "a party of incontinent friars and nuns" [OED], but not until 1769 was the verbal phrase attested.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: tar
Pronunciation: 'tär
Function: noun
1 : any of various dark brown or black bituminous usually odorous viscous liquids obtained bydestructive distillation of organic material (as wood, coal, or peat); especially : one used medicinally tar —The Medicine Show> —see JUNIPER TAR
2 : a substance in some respects resembling tar; especially : a condensable residue present in smoke from burning tobacco that contains combustion by-products (as resins, acids, phenols,and essential oils)
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Science Dictionary
tar   (tär)  Pronunciation Key 

  1. A dark, oily, viscous material, consisting mainly of hydrocarbons, produced by the destructive distillation of organic substances such as wood, coal, or peat.

  2. See coal tar.

  3. A solid, sticky substance that remains when tobacco is burned. It accumulates in the lungs of smokers and is considered carcinogenic.


The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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Computing Dictionary

tar file format
("Tape ARchive", following ar) Unix's general purpose archive utility and the file format it uses. Tar was originally intended for use with magnetic tape but, though it has several command line options related to tape, it is now used more often for packaging files together on other media, e.g. for distribution via the Internet.
The resulting archive, a "tar file" (humourously, "tarball") is often compressed, using gzip or some other form of compression (see tar and feather).
There is a GNU version of tar called gnutar with several improvements over the standard versions.
Filename extension: .tar
MIME type: unregistered, but commonly application/x-tar
Unix manual page: tar(1).
Compare shar, zip.
(1998-05-02)

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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Idioms & Phrases

tar

In addition to the idiom beginning with tar, also see beat the living daylights (tar) out of.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Encyclopedia

tar

(Iranian: "string"), long-necked lute descended from the tanbur of Sasanian Iran and known in a variety of forms throughout the Middle East, the Caucasus, and Central Asia. Its name traditionally signified the number of strings employed-e.g., dutar ("two-strings"), setar ("three-strings"), and cartar ("four-strings")-but this is no longer true, as the sitar of India has up to seven strings. The body of the tar is hollowed out of a single piece of wood and is rounded out in two bulges so that the membrane-covered belly is like a figure 8 or hourglass. The instrument, which is played with a small metal pick, has movable frets and lateral pegs for the metal strings that are rib-fastened. The word tar is also a generic term for Middle Eastern tambourines.

Learn more about tar with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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