tar
1 Americannoun
-
any of various dark-colored viscid products obtained by the destructive distillation of certain organic substances, as coal or wood.
-
coal-tar pitch.
-
smoke solids or components.
cigarette tar.
verb (used with object)
-
tars,
present (3rd person singular)
-
tarred,
past participle, past
-
tarring
present participle
adjective
-
of or characteristic of tar.
-
covered or smeared with tar; tarred.
idioms
-
beat / knock / whale the tar out of, to beat mercilessly.
The thief had knocked the tar out of the old man and left him for dead.
-
tar and feather,
-
to coat (a person) with tar and feathers as a punishment or humiliation.
-
to punish severely.
She should be tarred and feathered for what she has done.
-
-
tarred with the same brush, possessing the same shortcomings or guilty of the same misdeeds.
The whole family is tarred with the same brush.
noun
noun
noun
-
any of various dark viscid substances obtained by the destructive distillation of organic matter such as coal, wood, or peat
-
another name for coal tar
verb
-
to coat with tar
-
to punish by smearing tar and feathers over (someone)
-
regarded as having the same faults
-
A dark, oily, viscous material, consisting mainly of hydrocarbons, produced by the destructive distillation of organic substances such as wood, coal, or peat.
-
See coal tar
-
A solid, sticky substance that remains when tobacco is burned. It accumulates in the lungs of smokers and is considered carcinogenic.
Synonym Usage
See sailor.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
tarsimple
-
tarssimple
-
have tarredperfect
-
has tarredperfect
-
am tarringprogressive
-
are tarringprogressive
-
is tarringprogressive
-
have been tarringperfect progressive
-
has been tarringperfect progressive
Past
-
tarredsimple
-
had tarredperfect
-
was tarringprogressive
-
were tarringprogressive
-
had been tarringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
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
Explanation
Tar is a very thick liquid that's used to cover road surfaces. You can't walk on fresh, hot tar—you have to wait until it's completely dry. Besides coating streets and parking lots, tar is also used to waterproof things like roofing shingles and wooden boats. Because it has disinfecting properties, you can sometimes find tar in soap, medicinal shampoos, and even as flavoring in candy and alcohol. When you tar something, you spread tar on it. Long ago, to tar and feather someone was to apply painfully hot, burning tar and feathers to their skin, as a brutal kind of vigilante punishment.
Vocabulary lists containing tar
Black and Gray
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3-letter words, List 2
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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.
See Examples For:
Molecular fingerprinting revealed compounds associated with pine trees, showing that every sample was dominated by heated coniferous resin or coniferous tar, also called pitch.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 21, 2026
Environmental regulator Natural Resources Wales tested Llwyneinion acid tar lagoon close to Ruabon.
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026
Princo, as the endowment manager is known, still won’t invest in companies involved in thermal coal and tar sands, as directed by the university’s Board of Trustees.
From Barron's ● Jun. 10, 2026
Second, they believed that financial fortunes were made and unmade, above all else, by circumstance, meaning that defaults did not tar someone’s financial reputation for life.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 5, 2026
But the tar paper that Gerald had found and nailed to the ramp really did help her, so she had let him play on it.
From "Forged by Fire" by Sharon M. Draper
Scott Beeland runs PWC Gwynedd, a website promoting safe use of sea scooters, and said irresponsible use of water vehicles by a minority "tars us all with the same brush".
From BBC ● Mar. 31, 2023
One wonders what those early salt- and sun-battered tars would have thought of the drink’s most recent incarnation, the milkshake IPA.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 8, 2023
In a 2,600-year-old embalming workshop, scientists have discovered the ingredients for making a mummy: the tars, fats, tree resins and oils ancient Egyptians used to preserve bodies and prepare them for the afterlife.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 1, 2023
The Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act of 1938 included new regulations around color, specifically those derived from coal tars.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 26, 2018
"Pull, gents! Be good lads! It's me own fault, not leadin' you around this bog. Me eyesight ain't what it was, is it, old tars?"
From "The Whipping Boy" by Sid Fleischman
Some controlled by James Dolan, including AMC Networks, have long been tarred with a “Dolan discount” for that reason.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 6, 2026
It risks being tarred with both the inflationary stickiness of the US, and the stagnant growth of the eurozone - the worst of both worlds.
From BBC ● Jan. 10, 2025
“Those two should be held accountable, but the rest of the peaceful protestors shouldn’t be tarred by the behavior of two bad actors.”
From Washington Times ● Oct. 5, 2023
In suing Carroll, Trump said she tarred his reputation by maintaining in comments on CNN following the jury verdict that he had raped her.
From Reuters ● Aug. 10, 2023
The Old Grange on the west side had been knocked down, and its place taken by rows of tarred sheds.
From "The Return of the King" by J.R.R. Tolkien
Abbott, who represents the Stoney Stanton and Croft division, said he was "not being prejudiced" or "tarring anyone" and was stating a concern "from his residents".
From BBC ● Jan. 9, 2026
It attempted to justify his deportation by tarring him as a gang member, an accusation that was based on comically flimsy evidence and which the government never tried to escalate to proving in court.
From Slate ● Aug. 27, 2025
American law enforcement was more interested in tarring King with whatever they could dig up than in protecting him.
From New York Times ● May 8, 2023
School officials have tried to reserve tarring for times when students aren’t in classrooms — like after school or over the weekends, Baxter said.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 17, 2023
Above her, Horse and Archer were on the yards with little wooden pails, tarring down the rigging.
From "The Reader" by Traci Chee
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.
