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tart

 - 7 dictionary results
Tart
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tart

1[tahrt] ,
–adjective, -er, -est.
1. sharp to the taste; sour or acid: tart apples.
2. sharp in character, spirit, or expression; cutting; caustic: a tart remark.

Origin:
bef. 1000; ME; OE teart sharp, rough; akin to D tarten to defy, MHG traz defiance


tartish, adjective
tart⋅ish⋅ly, adverb
tartly, adverb
tartness, noun


2. barbed, biting.
Tart
Pumpkin Pie, Tarte Tatin & More Dessert Recipes at WomansDay.com
WomansDay.com/PiesandPastries

tart

2[tahrt]
–noun
1. a small pie filled with cooked fruit or other sweetened preparation, usually having no top crust.
2. a covered pie containing fruit or the like.
3. Slang. a prostitute or promiscuous woman.
4. tart up, Slang. to adorn, dress, or decorate, esp. in a flamboyant manner: The old restaurant was tarted up to look like a Viennese café.

Origin:
1350–1400; 1905–10 for def. 3; ME tarte < MF; cf. ML tarta
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2010.
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tart 1   (tärt)   
adj.   tart·er, tart·est
  1. Having a sharp pungent taste; sour. See Synonyms at sour.

  2. Sharp or bitter in tone or meaning; cutting.


[Middle English, from Old English teart, severe; see der- in Indo-European roots.]
tart'ly adv., tart'ness n.
tart 2   (tärt)   
n.  
    1. A pastry shell with shallow sides, no top crust, and any of various fillings.

    2. Chiefly British A pie.

    3. A prostitute.

    4. A woman considered to be sexually promiscuous.

    1. A prostitute.

    2. A woman considered to be sexually promiscuous.

tr.v.   tart·ed, tart·ing, tarts Chiefly British
To dress up or make fancy in a tawdry, garish way. Often used with up.

[Middle English tarte, from Old French, perhaps alteration of tartane, from Late Latin torta, a kind of bread.]
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

tart  (adj.)
"having a sharp taste," c.1386, 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 1601.

tart  (n.1)
"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.).

tart  (n.2)
"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.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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