mineral tar

American

noun

bitumen of the consistency of tar; maltha.

mineral tar British

noun

Also called: maltha. a natural black viscous tar intermediate in properties between petroleum and asphalt

"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

Etymology

Origin of mineral tar

First recorded in 1790–1800

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The chief were wine, coal, timber, mineral tar, fertilizers and lobsters and crayfish.

From Project Gutenberg

A kind, called mineral tar, is also drawn from coal by the process of distillation.

From Project Gutenberg

In the vicinity of Los Angeles there are a number of warm springs which throw out and deposit large quantities of bitumen or mineral tar.

From Project Gutenberg

We saw the same kind of roof material as before, a sort of mineral tar which I supposed they must find somewhere about.

From Project Gutenberg

This is the mine of chapapote or mineral tar of the country.

From Project Gutenberg

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