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Synonyms

tare

1 American  
[tair] / tɛər /

noun

  1. any of various vetches, especially Vicia sativa.

  2. the seed of a vetch.

  3. Bible. a noxious weed, probably the darnel.


tare 2 American  
[tair] / tɛər /

noun

  1. the weight of the wrapping, receptacle, or conveyance containing goods.

  2. a deduction from the gross weight to allow for this.

  3. the weight of a vehicle without cargo, passengers, etc.

  4. a counterweight used in chemical analysis to balance the weight of a container.

  5. a word formerly used in communications to represent the letter T.


verb (used with object)

tared, taring
  1. to ascertain, note, or allow for the tare of.

tare 3 American  
[tair] / tɛər /

verb

Archaic.
  1. simple past tense and past participle of tear.


tare 1 British  
/ tɛə /

noun

  1. the weight of the wrapping or container in which goods are packed

  2. a deduction from gross weight to compensate for this

  3. the weight of a vehicle without its cargo, passengers, etc

  4. an empty container used as a counterbalance in determining net weight

"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

verb

  1. (tr) to weigh (a package, etc) in order to calculate the amount of tare

"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
tare 2 British  
/ tɛə /

noun

  1. any of various vetch plants, such as Vicia hirsuta ( hairy tare ) of Eurasia and N Africa

  2. the seed of any of these plants

  3. Bible a troublesome weed, thought to be the darnel

"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 tare1

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English tar(e), thar(e) “vetch”; akin to Dutch tarwe, Middle Low German terwe “wheat”

Origin of tare2

First recorded in 1480–90; from Middle French (equivalent to Medieval Latin, Italian, Provençal, Spanish, Portuguese tara, Spanish atara ), ultimately from Arabic ṭarḥah “what is thrown away, rejection, subtraction,” derivative of ṭaraḥa “to throw, throw away”

Explanation

The tare of a container is its weight when it's empty, which is important to know when you can't weigh something without putting it into something else. Since you can't measure the weight of, say, olive oil without putting it into a container, you need to find out how much the container weighs, its tare, so you don't add that to the weight of the olive oil. The same thing goes for cargo containers, trucks, airplanes, railroad cars. In chemistry, a tare is a counterweight used on this same principle. Tare is also a kind of weedy grass that grows in grain fields or that's raised for forage.

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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:

Brush both sides of each skewer with some of the reserved tare.

From Seattle Times Sep. 24, 2019

Each bag includes the tare weight to ensure you pay only for what you are buying.

From Slate May 7, 2018

Appreciation for the finer points of tsukemen and mazemen, of seasoning shio and blending tare, had grown far beyond Japanese expatriates.

From New York Times Dec. 5, 2017

Plus, the sauce they’re served atop — a thick Japanese tare — is enhanced by the unctuous filling that spills out.

From Washington Post Mar. 9, 2017

By such lessons did I become acclimated to scientific calculation in even the meanest function, so learning the secrets of tare and gross.

From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party" by M.T. Anderson

The following are the details of the process:— A tared filter paper is placed in a funnel to the neck of which has been fitted a piece of rubber tubing provided with a clip.

From Nitro-Explosives: A Practical Treatise by P. Gerald (Percy Gerald) Sanford

The last filtration may be performed upon a Gooch crucible, a linen filter, or a tared filter paper.

From All About Coffee by William H. (William Harrison) Ukers

Moisture.—This is simply estimated by taking a weighed portion in small shavings in a tared dish, and drying in the oven at 105° C. until it ceases to lose weight.

From The Handbook of Soap Manufacture by W. H. Simmons

To do this we poured off the liquids in A and B, collecting the yeasts on tared filters.

From The Harvard Classics Volume 38 Scientific Papers (Physiology, Medicine, Surgery, Geology) by Various

In the case of a tared filter it is weighed repeatedly until the weight suffers no change; then knowing the weight of the filter paper, the weight of the precipitate is obtained by subtraction.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 6, Slice 1 "Châtelet" to "Chicago" by Various

A sudden, slow and taring voice, that sent a cold flush down her back and that raised the small hairs on the nape of her neck, came from behind.

From Scorched Earth by Walter D. Petrovic

I was taring around the front lawn where he didn't want me; he was cross.

From Slave Narratives: a Folk History of Slavery in the United States From Interviews with Former Slaves Ohio Narratives by Work Projects Administration

Bago kep a shop in Smithfield market, and drov a taring good trade in the hoil and Italian way.

From The Memoirs of Mr. Charles J. Yellowplush by William Makepeace Thackeray

At first some taring of a shock is felt when we realise that the old definitions and classifications are only matters of convenience, and really represent nothing in nature.

From The Gospel Of Evolution From "The Atheistic Platform", Twelve Lectures by Edward Aveling

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