tar baby
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of tar baby
After the tar doll used to trap Brer Rabbit in an Uncle Remus story (1881) of Joel Chandler Harris
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.
Taken perhaps at its simplest reading, though, the tar baby, catching and trapping all who get too near, is a warning that no one involved in slavery can escape its horrors.
From New York Times • Nov. 10, 2021
In the Uncle Remus fairy tales, the Brer Rabbit encounters a tar baby, a doll made of tar meant to trap him.
From Time • Oct. 5, 2012
Before Johnson fell for the tar baby of Vietnam, Americans believed their Presidents almost always told them the truth.
From Time Magazine Archive
The tar baby is a form of a character widespread in African folklore.
From Time Magazine Archive
At that—blip! he hit the tar baby with the other hand.
From Boys and Girls Bookshelf (Vol 2 of 17) Folk-Lore, Fables, And Fairy Tales by Baltzell, W. J. (Winton James)
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.
