▪ I. jar, n.1
(dʒɑː(r))
Forms: 6 gerre, 6–7 iarre, 7–8 jarr, 6– jar.
[Goes with jar v.1 Sense 7 appears to be independently taken from the vb.; and in sense 8 there may be an independent operation of the same echoic or onomatopœic process which gave rise to the vb. and n.]
I. A sound or vibration.
1. A harsh inharmonious sound or combination of sounds; † spec. in Mus., A discord (obs.).
| 1553 T. Wilson Rhet. (1580) 169 Composition..is an apte joynyng together of woordes in suche order, that neither the eare shall espie any gerre, nor yet [etc.]. 1586 W. Massie Marriage Serm. at Trafford, A litle iarre in musick is not easily espied. 1600 Shakes. A.Y.L. ii. vii. 5 If he compact of iarres, grow Musicall, We shall haue shortly discord in the Spheares. 1655 Moufet & Bennet Health's Improv. (1746) 359 When the Jars of Crowders shall be thought good Music. 1781 Cowper Conversat. 902 With rash and awkward force the chord he shakes, And grins with wonder at the jar he makes. 1841 D'Israeli Amen. Lit. (1867) 278 The critic's fastidious ear listens to nothing but the jar of rude rhymes. |
† 2. A vibration or tick of the clock; cf. jar v.1 2. Obs. rare.
| 1611 Shakes. Wint. T. i. ii. 43, I loue thee not a Iarre o' th' clock, behind What Lady she her Lord. |
3. A quivering or grating sound; a tremulous or harsh vibration of sound.
| 1669 Holder Elem. Speech (J.), The impulse..shakes and agitates the whole tongue, whereby the sound is affected with a trembling jar. 1813 Scott Rokeby v. iv, Bolt and bar Resumed their place with sullen jar. 1885 R. L. & F. Stevenson Dynamiter ii. 9 House after house echoed upon his passage with a ghostly jar. |
4. A vibration or tremulous movement resulting from concussion, esp. a movement of this kind running through the body or nerves; a thrill of the nerves, mind, or feelings caused by, or resembling the effect of, a physical shock.
| c 1815 Jane Austen Persuasion xii, She..ran up the steps to be jumped down again. He advised her against it, thought the jar too great. 1822–34 Good's Study Med. (ed. 4) I. 371 Such exercise as gives a general jar to the animal frame, as riding a hard-trotting horse. a 1853 Robertson Lect. i. (1858) 100, I know what it is to feel the jar of nerve gradually cease. 1871 R. H. Hutton Ess. II. 131 It is a jar to the mind, like coming down three steps without notice. |
II. 5. Discord, want of harmony, disagreement; a divergence or conflict of opinions, etc.; † a discrepancy of statement (obs.).
| 1548 Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. John x. verse 19 There fel a newe iar in opinions among the people. 1593 Bilson Govt. Christ's Ch. 21 The iarre in the number of the Judges, I labour not to reconcile. 1612 T. Taylor Comm. Titus i. 16 Not..admitting discord, and iarre in things whereof the one should be as the true exposition of the other. 1893 in Barrows Parlt. Relig. II. 837 [If] there has been no such jar in the original creation as the doctrine of sin implies. |
6. a. Discord manifested in strife or contention; variance, dissension, quarrelling.
| 1546 J. Heywood Prov. ii. ii. (1867) 47 Alone to bed she went. This was their beginnyng of iar. 1590 Spenser F.Q. ii. ii. 26 He maketh warre, he maketh peace againe, And yett his peace is but continual iarre. 1658 Whole Duty Man xv. ¶2 The continual conversation that is among them..will be apt to minister some occasion of jar. 1781 Cowper Expostul. 294 Thy senate is a scene of civil jar. 1850 Tennyson In Mem. xciv, They can but listen at the gates, And hear the household jar within. |
b. A dissension, dispute, quarrel. Now used chiefly of petty (esp. domestic) broils.
| 1583 Babington Commandm. v. (1590) 186 Brawles, iarres, and vnkindnesse betwixt man and wife before their children and seruants. 1682 Bunyan Holy War xi, Now there were no jars, no chiding..in all the Town of Mansoul. 1700 Dryden Pal. & Arc. ii. 418 The vanquish'd party shall their claim release, And the long jars conclude in lasting peace. 1848 Bright Sp., Ireland 25 Aug., Ireland has long been a land of jars and turmoil. 1853–7 Trench Proverbs i. 20 Women's jars breed men's wars. 1887 Jessopp Arcady i. 5 Once or twice a family jar put two households at war. |
c. at (a) jar, † at jars: at discord, in a state of dissension or variance. † to fall at jar: to fall out, to quarrel (obs.). Cf. ajar2. Now rare.
| 1552 Acts Privy Counc. Eng. 23 July (1892) 102 A letter to the Mayour and townes men of Excestre willing them..to contynnewe in frendship with..the gentlemen with whome they were lately at jarre. 1586 J. Hooker Hist. Irel. in Holinshed II. 82/2 The citizens and Ormond his armie fell at some iar. 1603 Knolles Hist. Turks (1638) 122 The German Princes were still at a jarre about the choice of their Emperors. 1674 N. Fairfax Bulk & Selv. 74 An hugger-mugger of meddlesom beings all at jars. 1784 J. Barry in Lect. Paint. vi. (1848) 220 The hues of colour in the sky and distance must frequently be at jar with the light and shade of the advanced parts. 1859 I. Taylor Logic in Theol. 139 The life seen and temporal, and the life eternal are at a jar. |
III. 7. A method of connecting the bit and the rods or cable in an apparatus for drilling rocks by impact, by means of which at each up-stroke a jar of the bit is produced which jerks it upwards though it may be tightly wedged in the hole.
| a 1864 Gesner Coal, Petrol., etc. (1865) 28 The downward stroke of the walking-beam releases the Auger Stem and Bit for an instant as the Jars slide together, and they fall the distance necessary to penetrate the rock, and are again lifted by the Jars on the upward stroke. 1881 Raymond Mining Gloss., Jars, a part of percussion-drilling apparatus for deep holes..which by producing at each up-stroke a decided jar of the bit jerks it up. 1883 Century Mag. July 330/1 The ‘jars’, two heavy bars linked together. |
IV. 8. A representation of the harsh vibratory sound made by certain birds and insects, used to form their popular names, as jar-bird, jar-fly, jar-owl; hence transferred to the animal, etc., as in eve-jar, night-jar.
V. 9. attrib. and Comb., as jar ramming Founding = jolt ramming (s.v. jolt n. 5).
| 1909 Iron Age LXXXIV. 1165/1 The working foundry⁓man has carried this development, especially as applied to what are known as jolt or jar ramming machines, far beyond what was anticipated. 1912 Jrnl. Iron & Steel Inst. LXXXVI. 546 A jar-ramming moulding-machine with a roll-over device, which also lowers the mould away from the pattern, is described. 1934 Laing & Rolfe Man. Foundry Pract. v. 102 (heading) Jolt- or jar-ramming. |
▪ II. jar, n.2
(dʒɑː(r))
Forms: 6–7 iarre, 7–8 jarr, 7– jar.
[a. F. jarre (16th c. in Godef. Compl.) = Pr. jarro, Sp., Pg. jarra, jarro, It. giara (formerly also giarra, zara), a. Arab. jarrah, earthen water-vessel. (The Eng. may be in part directly from Sp.)]
1. A vessel of earthenware, stoneware, or glass, without spout or handle (or having two handles), usually more or less cylindrical in form. Orig. used only in its eastern sense of a large earthen vessel for holding water, oil, wine, etc. (See quots.)
Leyden jar, an electrical condenser consisting of a cylindrical glass jar lined inside and outside nearly to the top with tin foil, the inner coating being connected at the top with a brass rod which ends in a knob.
| 1592 J. Twitt in Hakluyt Voy. (1600) III. 568 Wee descryed a frigat..wherein were 22. iarres of copper-money. 1613 Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) 469 At the dore there is a great iarre of water, with a..Ladle in it, and there they wash their feete. 1628 Digby Voy. Medit. 48, I found that..hanging some lead in the iarres, it continued perfect good. 1660 Boyle New Exp. Phys. Mech. xxv. 199 The Glass did..fall down to the bottom of the Jar. 1718 Lady M. W. Montagu Let. to Abbé Conti 19 May, The galleries..are adorned with jars of flowers. 1750 Franklin Lett., etc. 25 Dec., Wks. 1840 V. 255 The shock from two large glass jars, containing as much electrical fire as forty common phials. 1832 Hand-bk. Nat. Philos. II. Electr. viii. 34 (U.K.S.) This instrument having been made known principally through the experiments of Kleist, Cuneus, and Muschenbroeck, at Leyden, the name of the Leyden phial, or jar, was generally applied to it. 1846 Grote Greece ii. xxiii. (1862) II. 563 The jars and pottery of Korkyra enjoyed great reputation. |
2. a. Such a vessel and its contents; hence, as much as a jar will hold, a jarful. Formerly a measure of capacity varying according to the commodity.
| 1598 Florio, Giara, Giarra,..also a certaine measure of liquid things, which we call a iarre. 1656 Blount Glossogr., Jar (Span. Jarro..), with us it is most usually taken for a vessel of twenty Gallons of Oyl. 1706 Phillips, Jarr of Oil, an Earthen Vessel containing from 18 to 26 Gallons; A Jarr of green Ginger is about a Hundred Pounds Weight. 1732 Pope Ep. Bathurst 56 Sir, Spain has sent a thousand jars of oil. 1848 L. Hunt (title) A Jar of Honey from Mount Hybla. |
† b. Electr. A unit of capacity (see quot. 19201). Obs.
| [1834 W. S. Harris in Rep. Brit. Assoc. Adv. Sci. 1833 387 The unit of measure consists of a small electrical jar, having a discharging electrometer. 1889 A. W. Poyser Magn. & Electr. xiii. 139 Harris's unit jar.—This instrument is used for measuring the charge given to a Leyden jar.] 1920 Admiralty Handbk. Wireless Telegr. iii. 68, 1 farad = ..9 x 108 (nine hundred million) ‘jars’. Ibid., The jar is a Service unit, and is very useful when dealing with small capacities. Ibid. viii. 245 Provide a condenser composed of two elements of 100 jars each. 1932 Admiralty Handbk. Wireless Telegr. 1931 vi. 338 The low reactance of even minute capacities and the easy shunt paths they provide..may best be realised by giving a comparative table of the reactances of a capacity of 1 jar and an inductance of 100 microhenries at various frequencies. |
c. A drink (of beer, etc.). colloq.
| 1925 S. O'Casey Juno & Paycock 1, in Two Plays 42 Boyle. An' now, Mr. Bentham, you'll have to have a wet. Bentham. A wet? Boyle. A wet—a jar—a boul! 1941 Baker Dict. Austral. Slang 38 Jar, a pint or ‘handle’ of beer. 1961 C. Willock Death in Covert i. 8 ‘Have a jar, Goss,’ he said, and poured him at least three fingers of whisky. 1966 P. Moloney Plea for Mersey 56 Whan lads frae Scotty Road gang far, Untae the boozer for a jar. 1969 V. Canning Queen's Pawn iii. 41 Hot morning. Care for a jar? They keep good beer. 1972 Observer 26 Nov. 26/4 The painter, Raymond Piper, took us for a jar at his local. 1973 New Society 6 Sept. 563/1 A great place to meet old friends and make new ones, to knock back the jars and sit gossiping into the early hours. |
3. attrib. and Comb., as jar radiation, jar-like adj.; † jar-glass, a low glass vessel shaped like a gallipot.
| 1602 Plat Delightes for Ladies (1605) §52 Put it vp in gally pots or iarre glasses. 1652 Culpepper Eng. Physic. 256 Take a flat glass, we call them jarr glasses, strew in a lair of fine sugar. 1694 Salmon Bate's Dispens. (1713) 274/2 Keep it in a Jarglass or Gally-pot, tyed close over with a wet Bladder, for Vse. 1880 A. Wilson in Gentl. Mag. CCXLVI. 42 These animals are given to eject water from their jar-like bodies. 1892 Pall Mall G. 5 May 6/2 The discharges of a Leyden jar were sent through the primary wire of an oil induction coil. The wave-length of the jar radiation was three hundred metres. |
▪ III. jar, n.3 arch. or colloq.
[Later form of char, chare n.1, turn, turning: see ajar1.]
In the phrases on (upon) the jar, † on (a) jar, † at jar, on the turn, partly open, ajar1: cf. chare n.1 2 b.
| 1674 N. Fairfax Bulk & Selv. 7 The fulfilledness or perfection of the will in the next life, will not be in a standing at jar, and wavering alike towards good and evil. 1707 J. Stevens tr. Quevedo's Com. Wks. (1709) 45 Finding a Door upon the jar. 1767 H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1859) I. 311 The door was on the jar, and, gently opening it, I entered and stood behind her unperceived. 1777 Sheridan Sch. Scand. ii. ii, She never absolutely shuts her mouth, but leaves it always on a-jar, as it were, thus. 1794 A. M. Bennett Ellen II. 112 She found..the hall door on jar. 1837 Dickens Pickw. xxxiv, ‘I see Mrs. Bardell's street door on the jar’. ‘On the what?’ exclaimed the little judge. ‘Partly open, my Lord’, said Serjeant Snubbin. |
▪ IV. jar, v.1
(dʒɑː(r))
Forms: 6–7 iarr(e, 6 gerre, ier, charre, 7–8 jarr, 6– jar.
[This vb. and its accompanying n. jar1 are known only from the 16th c. In origin prob. echoic, varying with gerre, charre, representing (with trilled r) a continued harsh vibratory sound. Words phonetically akin are churr, chirr, chark (OE. cearcian), chirk, etc., with various verbs expressing vocal sound in other languages.]
I. 1. intr. To make or emit a harsh grating sound; to make a musical discord; to sound harshly or in discord with other sounds. Also fig.
| 1526 Skelton Dk. Albany 378 Ye muse somwhat too far, All out of joint ye iar. 1542 Udall Erasm. Apoph. 76 b, Thei would bestowe greate labour and diligence to sette the strynges in right tune, and had maners gerryng quite and clene out of all good accorde or frame. 1576 Fleming Panopl. Epist. 115 Iarringe, and snarringe at me like dogs. 1598 Drayton Heroic. Ep. xi. 124 The British Language, which our Vowels wants, And iarres so much upon harsh Consonants. 1602 Marston Antonio's Rev. iv. v. Wks. 1856 I. 131 The strings of natures symphony Are crackt and jar. 1642 Fuller Holy & Prof. St. i. viii. 21 Though with the clock they have given the last stroke, yet they keep a jarring, muttering to themselves a good while after. 1658 tr. Porta's Nat. Magic vi. xiii. 189 If it..ring clearly, it is whole; if it do jar, it is cracked somewhere. 1709 Addison Tatler No. 157 ¶10 She jarrs and is out of Tune very often in Conversation. 1734 Watts Reliq. Juv. iv. (1789) 10 Rivers of peace attend his song..He jars; and, lo! the flints are broke. 1816 Byron Ch. Har. iii. iv, Perchance my heart and harp have lost a string, And both may jar. |
† b. To produce a harsh or grating sound on or as on a musical instrument. Obs.
| 1581 J. Bell Haddon's Answ. Osor. 93 Many other good men iarryng alwayes upon the same stryng, mistooke the note as I did. 1594 Nashe Unfort. Trav. Wks. 1883–4 V. 185 Brauely did he drum on this Cutwolfes bones..iarring on them quaueringly with his hammer. 1603 Drayton Bar. Wars iii. xlviii, Which like the tunes of the Celestials are..Compar'd with which Arion did but iar. |
† 2. intr. Of a clock (or, of minutes): To tick. Also (in quot. 1593) trans. To cause to tick. Obs.
| 1593 Shakes. Rich. II, v. v. 51 My thoughts, are minutes; and with Sighes they iarre Their watches on vnto mine eyes. c 1594 Kyd Sp. Trag. iv. in Hazl. Dodsley V. 122 The bells tolling..the minutes jarring, and the clock striking twelve. 1609 Heywood Brit. Troy iv. cvii, He heares no waking clocke, nor watch to iarre. |
3. intr. To strike against something (or each other) with a grating sound, or so as to cause vibration; to clash. Const. upon, with, against.
| 1665 [see jarring ppl. a. 2]. 1713 Steele Guardian No. 143 ¶1 He came..encumbered with a bar of cold iron..it banged against his calf and jarred upon his right heel, as he walked. 1810 Scott Lady of L. ii. xvii, As broad⁓sword upon target jarred. 1877 Mrs. Oliphant Makers Flor. xiii. 327 His boat of life had already jarred upon the soft shores of the eternal land. |
4. intr. With reference to the sensation caused by discordant sound: To sound harshly in (obs.), or fall with harsh effect on, the ear. Hence, To strike with discordant or painful effect upon the nerves, feelings, mind, conscience, etc.
| 1538 Starkey England i. ii. 63 Hyt sounyth veray yl, hyt jarryth in myn yerys, to gyue such powar to blynd fortune. 1850 Merivale Rom. Emp. (1865) II. xiii. 108 Of all his audacious innovations, none, perhaps, jarred more upon the prejudices of his countrymen. 1851 Thackeray Eng. Hum. i. (1863) 57 His laugh jars on one's ear after seven score years. 1874 Green Short Hist. vi. §5. 322 The iniquity of the proposal jarred against the public conscience. 1875 W. S. Hayward Love agst. World 78 There was something in her manner..which jarred painfully on his feelings. |
5. intr. Of the body affected: a. To vibrate audibly; to resound, clatter, or rattle with a grating or grinding sound. b. Hence (without reference to sound) To vibrate, shiver, or shake, from an impact or shock.
| 1735 Wesley Wks. (1830) I. 21 The ship shook and jarred with so unequal grating a motion. 1742 Plant in Phil. Trans. XLII. 40 We had a great Shock; it made my House shake much, and the Windows jar. 1791 Cowper Iliad xx. 203 The incumber'd earth jarr'd under foot. 1879 Cassell's Techn. Educ. IV. 102/1 May be applied to the doors and windows..where subject to jar or vibrate. |
6. trans. To cause to sound discordantly.
| 1633 tr. Bp. Hall's Occas. Medit. §80 When once they [bells] jarre, and check each other..how harsh and unpleasing is that noise. 1839–40 De Quincey Casuistry Wks. 1858 VIII. 300 Every impulse of bad health jars or untunes some string in the fine harp of human volition. 1863 Whittier Andrew Rykman's Prayer 107, I alone the beauty mar, I alone the music jar. |
7. To cause to vibrate; to shake into vibration; to trill. In quot. 1568 to grind (the teeth).
| 1568 T. Howell Arb. Amitie (1879) 101 And break the bragges of curssed curres, that iarre their teeth at thee. 1790 Walker Pronounc. Dict. Introd. §419 The rough r is formed by jarring the tip of the tongue against the roof of the mouth near the fore teeth. 1820 W. Irving Sketch Bk., Westm. Abb. (1859) 129 It [the music] fills the vast pile, and seems to jar the very walls. 1859 W. Collins Q. of Hearts (1875) 53 The blow must have jarred the hand of Shifty Dick up to his very shoulder. 1860 O. W. Holmes Prof. Breakf.-t. vii. (Paterson) 150 A sudden gust..jars all the windows. |
b. To cause the nerves or feelings to vibrate painfully, to send a shock through.
| 1789 Mrs. Piozzi Journ. France, etc. I. 12 The fine paved road..jars the nerves terribly. 1795 Southey Joan of Arc v. 393 Discord of dreadful sounds That jarr'd the soul. 1821 Byron Cain iii. i. 135 Since That saying jars you, let us only say—'Twere better that he never had been born. |
8. To injure by concussion or impact.
| 1875 Manning Mission H. Ghost viii. 214 If you take in hand a musical instrument that has been broken or jarred, all its notes jangle in discord. 1898 P. Manson Trop. Diseases 359 This blood comes from the wall of an abscess jarred and torn by the succussion of the harassing cough. |
b. To roughen, as by concussion or impact.
| 18.. O. Byrne Artisan's Handbk. 338 (Cent.) The face of the polishing-lap is hacked or jarred. |
9. To drill by impact, as a rock; to use a drill-jar upon: cf. jar n.1 7. (Funk.)
10. To drive by a jarring sound.
| 1820 Byron Mar. Fal. iii. ii. 540 Man, thou hast struck upon the chord which jars All nature from my heart. |
II. 11. intr. To be out of harmony or at discord in character or effect; to be at variance; to disagree; to conflict. Of persons (obs.), or of opinions, statements, systems, etc.
| 1541 R. Copland Galyen's Terapeut. 2 E iij, In this thynge almost all the maysters of medycyne do agre, albeit that in sondry thynges they iarre. 1563 A. Brooke (title) Agreemente of sondry Places of Scripture, seeming in shew to iarre. 1579 Tomson Calvin's Serm. Tim. 49/2 The Gospell is not a doctrine iarring from the lawe that Moses published in Gods name. 1667 Milton P.L. v. 793 Orders and Degrees Jarr not with liberty, but well consist. 1764 Churchill Gotham iii. 577 Making those jar, whom Reason meant to join. 1873 M. Arnold Lit. & Dogma (1876) 168 This verse..jars with the words which precede and follow. |
b. To come into conflict, to clash.
| 1621 Burton Anat. Mel. i. i. ii. xi. (1651) 30 They often jar, Reason is overborne by Passion. 1711 Steele Spect. No. 174 ¶1, And yet those Interests are ever jarring. 1851 G. Brimley Ess., Wordsw. 140 Clashing sympathies jarred the more harshly within him. |
12. intr. To be at strife or active variance; to quarrel; to dispute, bicker, wrangle.
| 1550 Latimer Last Serm. bef. Edw. VI Serm. (1562) 125 They will ier now a dayes one with an other, excepte they haue all. Ibid. 125 b, When they haue ierred they haue both gon to wracke. 1587 Higgins in Mirr. Mag., Brennus xxxi, O rather now, my sonnes, leaue of to iar. c 1592 Marlowe Jew of Malta ii. ii, We will not jar about the price. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iv. 94 If intestine Broils allarm the Hive,..The Vulgar in divided Factions jar. 1742 Young Nt. Th. ii. 176 Body and soul, like peevish man and wife, United jar, and yet are loth to part. 1840 Lady C. Bury Hist. of Flirt xi, We were everlastingly jarring and saying disagreeable things to each other. |
† 13. trans. To bring to disunion or discord. Obs.
| c 1615 Sylvester tr. H. Smith's Map of Man, We build and batter, ioyne and iarre, We heap and scatter, make and marre. 1628 Feltham Resolves ii. [i.] lxxii. 208 ‘Giue it to the fairest’, was it, which jarr'd the Goddesses. |
Hence jarred (dʒɑːd), ppl. a.
| 1892 Anne Ritchie Rec. Tennyson, etc. iii. vii. 211 He was in a jarred and troubled state. 1899 Ld. Rosebery in Daily News 28 Oct. 6/5 This little island..viewed..with such jarred ambition by the great Empires of the world. |
▪ V. jar, v.2
(dʒɑː(r))
[f. jar n.2]
trans. To preserve (fruit) in a jar; to bottle. Also transf.
| 1747 H. Glasse Art of Cookery xviii. 152 (heading) To jar Cherries. 1962 Guardian 24 Dec. 4/3 There's no point in jarring it away. You have to buy clothes with anything you get. |