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tart

[tahrt]

adjective, tart·er, tart·est.

sharp to the taste; sour or acid: Tart apples are best for pie. Synonyms: astringent, acrid, piquant. Antonyms: sweet, sugary, bland, mellow.

sharp in character, spirit, or expression; cutting; biting: a tart remark. Synonyms: sarcastic, barbed, caustic, acerbic, acrimonious. Antonyms: sweet, kind, gentle, gracious, benign.

Origin:
before 1000; Middle English; Old English teart sharp, rough; akin to Dutch tarten to defy, Middle High German traz defiance

Related forms

tart·ish, adjective

tart·ish·ly, adverb

tart·ly, adverb

tart·ness, noun

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Tart is always a great word to know.

So is quincunx. Does it mean:

an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle.

a stew of meat, vegetables, potatoes, etc.

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Example Sentences

Cut the tart into wedges and serve warm or at room temperature with vanilla ice cream.

His supposed sins: he asked tart questions that cast doubt on the authorities and sought guests who had displeased them.

To prepare filling, mix all ingredients and fill tart shells.

EXPAND

Cut the tart into wedges and serve warm or at room temperature with vanilla ice cream.

His supposed sins: he asked tart questions that cast doubt on the authorities and sought guests who had displeased them.

To prepare filling, mix all ingredients and fill tart shells.

Of course, vintage wine verbiage has long been the subject of crisp yet tart lampooning.

Their flavor is a complexly-delicious combination of tart and sweet.

The simple and tasty salt-and-pepper crust of this tart is worth making from scratch.

The strawberries were a little bit too tart for me, but were otherwise good.

There have been some requests for a basic tart crust recipe since my column on making walnut tart, so here you go.

No holiday meal in my city is complete without a milk tart.

Medium-size fruit has bright red skin and tart flesh.

Divide the pastry in half and press into two nine-inch tart pans.

Bright hits of tart apple and crispy endive make it standout.

Roll out pastry, line tart pan with the pastry and cover the pastry with foil.

Nibble on the refreshing watermelon ice cubes in between sips of this tart drink.

It is a sweet but tart salad, especially is your dressing is made with pineapple juice, mayo.

We cut this tart up into small pieces for an elegant appetizer, but you could also slice it into large wedges and serve it.

With farmers' markets awaiting spring crops, an onion tart is punched up with celery root.

Today the tart berries are marketed year-round in both juice and dried form.

Press into a nine-inch tart pan with a removable bottom, taking care to keep.

Citrus and minerals are magnified without oak, for a tart but creamy effect.

Wonderfully furious bubbles carry floral aromas, tart and spicy red fruit-cherry.

Harvest tart with pumpkin, roasted red peppers and olives.

C rabapple is a small, usually tart apple, typically used for jelly and pickling.

If tart begins to brown too much on top, cover lightly with foil.

When the tart is done, turn off heat but leave tart to cool in oven with door ajar.

Pick lemons and other tart fruits before they become puffy.

From there it's an easy jump to spicy, ruby red sorrel punch tart enough to stand up to the delicious fat in a meat patty.

Run a sharp paring knife around edge of each tartlet, then slip tart out.

COLLAPSE

Dictionary.com Unabridged

noun

a small pie filled with cooked fruit or other sweetened preparation, usually having no top crust.

a covered pie containing fruit or the like.

Slang. a prostitute or promiscuous woman.

Verb phrase

tart up, Slang. to adorn, dress, or decorate, especially in a flamboyant manner: The old restaurant was tarted up to look like a Viennese café.

Origin:
1350–1400; 1905–10 for def. 3; Middle English tarte < Middle French; compare Medieval Latin tarta

Link To tart

Collins

World English Dictionary

tart¹ (tɑːt)

—n
	a pastry case often having no top crust, with a sweet or savoury filling

[C14: from Old French tarte, of uncertain origin; compare Medieval Latin tarte]

tart² (tɑːt)

—*adj*
1.	(of a flavour, food, etc) sour, acid, or astringent
2.	cutting, sharp, or caustic: a tart remark

[Old English teart rough; related to Dutch tarten to defy, Middle High German traz defiance]

'tartish²

—*adj*

'tartishly²

—*adv*

'tartly²

—*adv*

'tartness²

—n

tart³ (tɑːt)

—n
	informal See also tart up a promiscuous woman, esp a prostitute: often a term of abuse

[C19: shortened from sweetheart]

'tarty³

—*adj*

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source

Etymonline

Word Origin & History

tart

"having a sharp taste," late 14c., perhaps from O.E. teart "painful, sharp, severe" (in ref. to punishment, pain, suffering), of unknown origin; possibly related to the root of teran "to tear." Fig. use, with ref. to words, speech, etc., is attested from c.1600.

EXPAND

tart

"small pie," c.1400, from O.Fr. tarte "flat, open-topped pastry" (13c.), possibly an alteration of torte, from L.L. torta "round loaf of bread" (in M.L. "a cake, tart"), infl. in M.E. by tart (adj.).

COLLAPSE

tart

"prostitute," 1887, from earlier use as a term of endearment to a girl or woman (1864), sometimes said to be a shortening of sweetheart. But another theory traces it to jam-tart (see tart (n.1)), which was British slang early 19c. for "attractive woman." To tart (something) up is from 1938.

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Matching Quote

"A tart temper never mellows with age, and a sharp tongue is the only edged tool that grows keener with constant use."

-Washington Irving

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