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)
adjective
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of or characteristic of tar.
-
covered or smeared with tar; tarred.
idioms
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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
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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:
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
The track surface of crushed rock and tar was so damaging to tires that later that year workers laid some 3.2 million bricks over the 2.5-mile oval—thus its enduring nickname, “The Brickyard.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 20, 2026
So I started to react in a more organic way, inspired by the tar pits.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 16, 2026
"I don't want to tar every business with the same brush by any means, but there is some profiteering."
From BBC ● Mar. 14, 2026
“Sunk in tar pit,” he declared, gingerly backing out of the puddle.
From "The Unseen Guest" by Maryrose Wood
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
At first glance, modern, prosperous South Korea looks like it’s been wrongly tarred with the same brush.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 29, 2026
But she said critics had tarred her for something far more nefarious.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 17, 2024
Mr Tan said some temples avoid interacting too much with China, but are now worried about being tarred by the same brush.
From BBC ● Dec. 29, 2023
The country has few tarred roads across its vast, forested territory, and river travel is common.
From Reuters ● Oct. 16, 2023
The line was so long that it wound all around the big, grassy courtyard, all around the tall barbed-wire fence and snaked all the way down the wide, tarred road.
From "Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography" by Mark Mathabane
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
The sub-branding keeps those irksome traits from tarring the image of the day-to-day vehicles.
From New York Times ● Mar. 24, 2022
Not only for tarring the reputation of a beloved public figure but for breaking ranks with a tightknit community: Playboy itself.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 28, 2022
He has a summer job, with the Works Department, filling in potholes in the roads, tarring over the cracks made by frost heave; he does have a faint tarry smell about him.
From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood
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.
