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definitions

jack-tar

or Jack Tar

[jak-tahr]
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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR jack-tar ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a sailor.

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RELATED WORDS

cadet, swab, salt, tarpaulin, seaman, pirate, mate, seafarer, navigator, mariner, marine, pilot, bluejacket, shipmate, tar, windjammer, boater, middy, lascar, diver

Origin of jack-tar

First recorded in 1775–85
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for jack-tar

Historical Examples of jack-tar

  • It ought not to have been loose, and there is a bit of discipline for some jack-tar.

  • The other, as his dress betokened, was a Jack-tar of the Royal Navy.

    The Thorogood Family

    R.M. Ballantyne

  • Somehow it has come to be supposed or assumed that a jack-tar cannot ride.

    Charlie to the Rescue

    R.M. Ballantyne

  • Born as he was in the nineteenth century, he was only a Jack-tar and a hero!

    Blue Lights

    R.M. Ballantyne

  • None are more ready to pay due deference to rank than Jack-tar, for he is made most to feel its power.