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),tarred,tar·ring.
to smear or cover with or as if with tar.
adjective
of or characteristic of tar.
covered or smeared with tar; tarred.
Idioms
beat/knock/whale the tar out of, Informal. 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.
Origin of tar
1
before 900; (noun) Middle Englishtarr(e), ter(re), Old Englishteru; cognate with Dutch,Germanteer,Old Norsetjara; akin to tree; (v.) Middle Englishterren,Old Englishtierwian, derivative of the noun
Related formsnon·tarred, adjectiveun·tarred, adjective
Word Origin and History for tarred with the same brush
tar
v.
in tar and feather, 1769. A mob action in U.S. in Revolutionary times and several decades thereafter. Originally it had been imposed by an ordinance of Richard I (1189) as punishment in the navy for theft. Among other applications over the years was its use in 1623 by a bishop on "a party of incontinent friars and nuns" [OED], but not until 1769 was the verbal phrase attested. Related: Tarred; tarring.
tar
n.1
a viscous liquid, Old English teoru, teru, literally "the pitch of (certain kinds of) trees," from Proto-Germanic *terwo- (cf. Old Norse tjara, Old Frisian tera, Middle Dutch tar, Dutch teer, German Teer), probably a derivation of *trewo-, from PIE *drew- "tree" (cf. Sanskrit daru "wood;" Lithuanian darva "pine wood;" Greek dory "beam, shaft of a spear," drys "tree, oak;" Gothic triu, Old English treow "tree;" see tree).
Tar baby is from an 1881 "Uncle Remus" story by Joel Chandler Harris. Tarheel for "North Carolina resident" first recorded 1864, probably from the gummy resin of pine woods. Tar water, an infusion of tar in cold water, was popular as a remedy from c.1740 through late 18c.
tar
n.2
"sailor," 1670s, probably a special use of tar (n.1), which was a staple for waterproofing aboard old ships (sailors also being jocularly called knights of the tarbrush); or possibly a shortened form of tarpaulin, which was recorded as a nickname for a sailor in 1640s, from the tarpaulin garments they wore.
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.
Idioms and Phrases with tarred with the same brush
tarred with the same brush
Having the same faults or bad qualities, as in He may be lazy, but if you ask me his friends are all tarred with the same brush. This term is thought to come from sheep farming, where the animals' sores were treated by brushing tar over them, and all the sheep in a flock were treated in the same way. The term was transferred to likeness in human beings in the early 1800s.
