tarry
1 Americanverb (used without object)
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tarries,
present (3rd person singular)
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tarried,
past participle, past
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tarrying
present participle
verb (used with object)
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tarries,
present (3rd person singular)
-
tarried,
past participle, past
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tarrying
present participle
noun
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tarries
plural
adjective
verb
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(intr) to delay in coming or going; linger
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(intr) to remain temporarily or briefly
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(intr) to wait or stay
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archaic (tr) to await
noun
Synonym Usage
See wait.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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tarrysimple
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tarriessimple
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have tarriedperfect
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has tarriedperfect
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am tarryingprogressive
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are tarryingprogressive
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is tarryingprogressive
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have been tarryingperfect progressive
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has been tarryingperfect progressive
Past
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tarriedsimple
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had tarriedperfect
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was tarryingprogressive
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were tarryingprogressive
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had been tarryingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of tarry1
First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English taryen “to delay,” tary “a delay”; origin unknown
Origin of tarry2
Explanation
To tarry is to linger and take your time leaving. If you really like going to Sally’s Diner for dessert, you might tarry over coffee and end up leaving after they’ve closed the kitchen. The verb tarry is perfect for describing what happens when those relatives that you see once a year come to your house for lunch and never seem to leave. When people tarry they stick around and take a long time to depart, sometimes lurking or loitering, or sometimes enjoying each other's company. Tarry can also mean to hang around a place without purpose. You might tarry in the park until the day is fading and you have to go home.
Vocabulary lists containing tarry
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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:
Bright red stool, dark or tarry stool, or mucus in the stool can be associated with bleeding somewhere in the gastrointestinal tract, colon, or rectum.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 22, 2026
Brands never lets his subject tarry long enough to freeze into marmoreal stillness.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026
In the western province of Alberta, where many ferocious wildfires burned, huge deposits of thick crude oil, mixed with tarry sand, sit beneath the forest and near the snaking Athabasca River.
From Washington Times ● Nov. 9, 2023
Thick mats of tarry petroleum asphalt cover portions of sandbars.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 23, 2023
“Yet you yourself cling to it with your dirty hands. I shall not tarry here. My terms or nothing. Make your choice.”
From "The Black Cauldron" by Lloyd Alexander
In one clever bit of staging, Hamlet tarries in the forefront as the king and queen canoodle in back and guards race by mid-stage between them, fresh from sighting the former king’s ghost.
From New York Times ● Jun. 30, 2022
Mansionization foes, meanwhile, complained that out-of-scale homes have continued to be erected as the city tarries on citywide fixes, necessitating more immediate measures to protect neighborhoods.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 17, 2015
He tarries awhile in this hovel of Muscovite anguish to bring light into the souls of the people, and by token of a dusted window, into the room, the main scene of sorrow.
From Time Magazine Archive
If he wanders too far or tarries too long beyond the state's borders, he had better look back and ask, "What's Thelma up to now?"
From Time Magazine Archive
She tarries a moment longer, then peels off, and speeding like a falling star, shoots off into a cloud and is gone.
From "On the Far Side of the Mountain" by Jean Craighead George
If had bin ony other dog—greyhound, bull, tarrier, or even a young sheep-dog—d'yo' think he'd ha' stopped wi' the one?
From Bob, Son of Battle by Alfred Ollivant
You see, the old tarrier was crossing Saint Nicholas Avenue, with a big market basket full of provisions—the family dinner, I suppose.
From Cap'n Warren's Wards by Joseph Crosby Lincoln
He's th' best tarrier fur rats as tha ivver seed.
From That Lass O' Lowrie's 1877 by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Yus, as old Barnum and Buggins, or tigers and tarrier pups.
From Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 98, February 22nd, 1890 by Various
A person who could appreciate the virtues of "th' best tarrier i' Riggan," could not be regarded wholly with contempt, or even indifference.
From That Lass O' Lowrie's 1877 by Frances Hodgson Burnett
He went up the path, and stood before the door waiting, when a high thin voice, like an evening wind, called from within, "Come in and fear not, thou that tarriest on the threshold."
From Paul the Minstrel and Other Stories Reprinted from The Hill of Trouble and The Isles of Sunset by Arthur Christopher Benson
Then said to me the glorious Power, standing in stature as a giant,—'Come! why tarriest thou?
From My Life as an Author by Martin Farquhar Tupper
But this it is that doth displease me: So oft thou tarriest at the tavern, While I am tethered at the door.
From An Anthology of Jugoslav Poetry; Serbian Lyrics by Various
There is danger alike for my father and thee, if thou tarriest longer.
From The Vale of Cedars by Grace Aguilar
Art I wait for thee at the outer gate, My love, mine only; Wherefore tarriest thou so late While I am lonely.
From The Man from Snowy River by A. B. (Andrew Barton) Paterson
This time, we deliberately tarried for the scores of curious locals and drivers who wanted to know about our bike, our route, our motivation and “Are you still talking?”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 8, 2025
However, ocean-faring ships tarried in San Pedro Bay as crews struggled to keep up with the pace.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 17, 2022
A business park called Grove 270 sits where Steve Miller once tarried too long onstage.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 18, 2022
After the reporters’ questions dwindled, he tarried in the hallway, leaning against a column, signing autographs on visitors’ entry cards like a Broadway star, patiently enjoying it.
From Salon ● Oct. 14, 2019
Even if he had tarried on the mountaintop, and even allowing for his modest walking speed, he should have reached here by now.
From "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson
I see the final visitors depart, many tarrying until the last second.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2025
My mind went back to midnight prayers and long, hot, sweaty tarrying services.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 13, 2021
The challenge for Churchill residents is to encourage the bears to head to the tundra without tarrying in town.
From The Guardian ● Feb. 13, 2019
The Rev. Everly Thomas is the only spirit who is aware of where and why everyone is stuck, and he has his own reasons for tarrying.
From New York Times ● Feb. 9, 2017
“It took me and Mr. Leroy near ’bouts a hour to ride it, but we waren’t tarrying atall.
From "Elijah of Buxton" by Christopher Paul Curtis
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