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.

Workers initially excavated the tar pits by capturing massive chunks of earth as if they were digging up a large tree, root ball and all.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 22, 2026

The researchers were particularly struck by a 300-year-long period of high charcoal accumulation from wildfires in the lake that began about 13,200 years ago—right around when the megafauna went missing from the tar pits.

From Scientific American • Aug. 17, 2023

A morning at Boy Scout camp in the forests of northern New Jersey is embedded in my memory, fixed like a bone in the tar pits.

From Seattle Times • Apr. 28, 2023

The meaningful update includes a more poignant and broader contextualization of the tar pits.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 26, 2023

And speaking of dodos, and tar pits, and things unseen: Edward Ashton had long been thought dead, or even very dead, but apparently he was not as dead as a dodo.

From "The Unseen Guest" by Maryrose Wood