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View synonyms for tar

tar

1

[ tahr ]

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)

, tarred, tar·ring.
  1. to smear or cover with or as if with tar.

adjective

  1. of or characteristic of tar.
  2. covered or smeared with tar; tarred.

tar

2

[ tahr ]

noun

, Informal: Older Use.
  1. a sailor.

    Synonyms: gob, seafarer

tar

1

/ tɑː /

noun

  1. an informal word for seaman
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


tar

2

/ tɑː /

noun

  1. any of various dark viscid substances obtained by the destructive distillation of organic matter such as coal, wood, or peat
  2. another name for coal tar
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

verb

  1. to coat with tar
  2. tar and feather
    to punish by smearing tar and feathers over (someone)
  3. tarred with the same brush
    regarded as having the same faults
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

tar

/ tär /

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


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Derived Forms

  • ˈtarriness, noun
  • ˈtarry, adjective
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Other Words From

  • non·tarred adjective
  • un·tarred adjective
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Word History and Origins

Origin of tar1

First recorded before 900; Middle English noun ter, terr(e), Old English teru, teoru, taru; cognate with Dutch, German teer, Old Norse tjara; akin to tree; verb derivative of the noun

Origin of tar2

First recorded in 1670–80; perhaps short for tarpaulin
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Word History and Origins

Origin of tar1

C17: short for tarpaulin

Origin of tar2

Old English teoru; related to Old Frisian tera, Old Norse tjara, Middle Low German tere tar, Gothic triu tree
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Idioms and Phrases

Idioms
  1. beat / knock / 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.

  2. tar and feather,
    1. to coat (a person) with tar and feathers as a punishment or humiliation.
    2. to punish severely:

      She should be tarred and feathered for what she has done.

  3. tarred with the same brush, possessing the same shortcomings or guilty of the same misdeeds:

    The whole family is tarred with the same brush.

More idioms and phrases containing tar

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

See sailor.
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Example Sentences

The State Department found that with high oil prices, the tar sands would be mined for oil, pipeline or no.

Pulling oil from the tar sands is costly, even more so when you tack transportation costs on top.

Therefore, we should—you guessed it—develop the Canadian tar sands and build the Keystone pipeline.

Loescher repeatedly emphasized that these sites are by no means limited to the La Brea Tar Pits.

It would transport bitumen and liquefied natural gas drawn from the tar sands to refineries on the Gulf Coast, mainly in Texas.

This is not the first time in history when the lack of a ha'porth of tar has spoilt the ship of State.

We may burn coal and thus change is appearance, but its particles are all there, in the form of gas, ashes or tar.

Shortly before ten, two tar-barrels were observed burning in a north-easterly direction.

While Stanley loaded a small carronade, young Welton got up blue lights and an empty tar-barrel.

In tar-kiln burning only dead wood is used, the green tree yielding less tar and of lower quality.

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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