▪ I. tar, n.1
(tɑː(r))
Forms: α. 1 teru, teoru (-o), (-tearo); 3–5 (6– Sc.) ter, 4 (Sc. 4–) terr, 4–6 terre, 4–5 teer, (5 tere). β. 4–7 tarre, 4–8 tarr, 5 taar, 6– tar. γ. 1 tyrwe, 2 tirwe.
[OE. teru (gen. terw-es), teoru (-o):—*terwo- neut. = MLG. ter. tere, LG. and (thence) mod.Ger. teer, Du. teer; also ON. tjara fem. (Norw. tj{obar}ra, Sw. tjära, Da. tjære). OE. had also the deriv. form *tierwe, tyrwe:—*terwjōn. Generally considered to be a deriv. of OTeut. *trewo-, Goth. triu, OE. treow tree (Indo-Eur. derw-: dorw-: dru-): cf. Lith. darvà pine-wood, Lett. darwa tar, ON. tyr-viðr pine-wood. Thus terwo may have meant orig. ‘the product (pitch) of certain kinds of trees’.]
1. a. A thick, viscid, black or dark-coloured, inflammable liquid, obtained by the destructive distillation of wood (esp. pine, fir, or larch), coal, or other organic substance; chemically, a mixture of hydrocarbons with resins, alcohols, and other compounds, having a heavy resinous or bituminous odour, and powerful antiseptic properties; it is much used for coating and preserving timber, cordage, etc. See also coal-tar. Also formed in the combustion of tobacco, etc.
In some early quots. used for bitumen: cf. 2.
| α a 700 Epinal Gloss. 677 (Sweet O.E.T.) Napta, blaecteru. Ibid. 858 Resina, teru. c 725 Corpus Gloss. 1360 Napta, blaec-teoru. Ibid. 1716 Resina, teoru. c 1000 Sax. Leechd. II. 76 Meng wiþ sote, sealt, teoro, huniᵹ, eald sape, smire mid. c 1050 Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 412/6 Gluten, lim, oððe tero. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 662 To maken a tur, wel heȝ & strong, Of tiȝel and ter, for water-gong. a 1300 Cursor M. 11899 Þai..drund him in pike and terr. 1436 Libel Eng. Policy in Pol. Poems (Rolls) II. 171 Peltre-ware, and grey pych, terre, borde and flex. 1483 Cath. Angl. 380/2 Ter, bitumen. 1508 Kennedie Flyting w. Dunbar 335 Thou salbe brynt, With pik, fyre, ter, gun puldre, or lint. 1522 More De Quat. Noviss. Wks. 74/1 Thei had leuer eate terre than tryacle. 1720 in Jrnl. Derbysh. Archæol. Soc. (1905) XXVII. 215 Ter and oile. |
| β 1355–6 Abingdon Rolls (Camden) 9 In tarr et rubea petra xx d. c 1440 Pallad. on Husb. xii. 239 Rubrike and taar [L. pix liquida] wormys & auntis sleth. ? a 1500 Chester Pl. vii. 33 Heare is tarr in a pot. 1555 Philpot in Foxe A. & M. (1583) 1835/1 He that toucheth tarre, can not but be defiled therby. 1610 Shakes. Temp. ii. ii. 54 She lou'd not the sauour of Tar nor of Pitch. 1681 Patent Specif. (1856) No. 214. 1 A new way of makeing pitch and tarre out of pit coal. 1813 Davy Agric. Chem. iii. (1814) 98 Tar and pitch principally consist of resin in a partially decomposed state. 1872 Oliver Elem. Bot. ii. 247 Tar is distilled from faggots of Pine, chiefly Scotch Fir, in the North of Europe. 1921 U.S. Patent 1,398,734 2/1 The catch basins..are adapted to concentrate the heavier particles of tar from smoke. 1932 Amer. Jrnl. Cancer XVI. 1513 The tar of cigarette smoke contains nicotine, phenolic bodies, pyridine bases, and ammonia. 1974 M. C. Gerald Pharmacol. viii. 155 Some of these are polycyclic hydrocarbons, commonly referred to as ‘tars’, and are undoubtedly responsible for the disproportionately greater incidence of lung cancer among cigarette smokers. |
| γ c 1000 ælfric Hom. I. 20 ᵹeclæm ealle þa seamas mid tyrwan. a 1175 Cott. Hom. 225 Iclem hall þe seames mid tirwan. |
b. Proverb.
to lose the sheep (dial. ship) for a ha'p'orth of tar: see
halfpennyworth b.
c. Applied
fig. in derogatory reference to someone of mixed Black (or Indian, etc.) and white origin:
cf. tar-brush b.
| 1897 A. Page Afternoon Ride 68 There was a touch of tar in this buxom dame. |
d. to beat (knock, etc.) the tar out of: to beat unmercifully, to reduce to a state of helplessness.
Cf. shit n. 1 g.
U.S. slang.| 1884 National Police Gaz. 6 Sept. 11/1 (heading) The celebrated New York dubs get the tar knocked out of them. 1916 ‘Texas’ Trav. Tourist ‘Typo’ 46 The newsboy..whose chief occupation is..to wallop the tar out of smaller newsboys. 1939 D. Trumbo Johnny got his Gun ii. 35 Naturally you..wanted Germany to get the tar kicked out of her. 1973 Wodehouse Bachelors Anonymous vii. 80 She is a fine upstanding woman, fully capable of beating the tar out of you. |
e. Colloq. abbrev. of
tarmac n. or
tarmacadam; a road surfaced with this.
| 1934 Dylan Thomas 18 Poems 26 Nor city tar and subway bored to foster Man through macadam. 1971 E. Afr. Standard (Nairobi) 13 Apr. 6/5 He thought the tarmac was dangerous anywhere. Next year he wanted to see less tar and higher speeds elsewhere. 1980 G. Lord Fortress iii. 26 Both roads were dirt... The tar ended miles back. |
2. Applied, with distinctive epithets, to natural substances resembling tar, as petroleum or bitumen: see
quots. 1796, 1875, and
mineral a. 5.
| 1747 Wesley Prim. Physick (1762) 37 Half a teaspoonful of Barbadoes Tar. 1796 Morse Amer. Geog. I. 558 A spring, on the top of which floats an oil, similar to that called Barbadoes tar. 1875 Ure's Dict. Arts III. 397 In a great number of places..a more or less fluid inflammable matter exudes. It is known as Persian naphtha, Petroleum, Rock-oil, Rangoon tar, Burmese naphtha, &c. |
3. A familiar appellation for a sailor:
perh. abbreviation of
tarpaulin.
Cf. Jack-tar.
| 1676 Wycherley Pl. Dealer ii. i, Nov. Dear tar, thy humble servant. 1695 Congreve Love for L. iv. xiv, You would have seen the Resolution of a Lover,—Honest Tarr and I are parted. 1706 Swift To Peterborough xi, Fierce in war, A land-commander, and a tar. 1709 Steele Tatler No. 31 ¶2 A Boatswain of an East-India Man..like a true Tar of Honour. 1820 Scoresby Acc. Arctic Reg. I. 514 The chief mate..a resolute and noble tar. 1862 Baring-Gould Iceland (1863) 179 The jolly tars seize the horses and ride them helter skelter up hill and down dale. |
4. attrib. and
Comb. a. attrib. Made of, from, or with tar; consisting of, containing, or derived from tar; as
tar-bath,
tar-creosote,
tar derivative,
tar-dye,
tar-lotion,
tar-mark,
tar-oil,
tar-ointment,
tar-pill,
tar-plaster,
tar product,
tar-salve,
tar-soap,
tar-spring,
tar-tincture,
tar-vapour,
tar-varnish,
tar-wash; covered or impregnated with tar, as
tar-bandage,
tar-cloth,
tar-cord,
tar-neckcloth,
tar-paving; used for holding, or in making, tar, as
† tar-boist (
= tar-box 1),
tar-bucket,
tar-can,
tar-copper,
tar-funnel,
tar-horn,
tar-kettle,
tar-pit,
† tar-pough,
† tar-stoup,
tar-trough,
tar-tub (in
quot. fig.).
b. objective, instrumental, etc., as
tar-burning;
tar-bind,
tar-brand,
tar-mark,
tar-paint vbs.,
tar-bedaubed,
tar-clotted,
tar-laid,
tar-painted,
tar-paved,
tar-roofed,
tar-scented,
tar-smelling,
tar-soaked,
tar-streaked adjs.;
tar-spraying,
tar-sprinkling;
tar-like adj. c. Special
Combs.:
tar acid, any of numerous phenolic constituents of coal-tar distillates that react with dilute caustic soda to give water-soluble salts;
tar acne,
Path., an inflammatory disease of the skin produced by rubbing with tar, etc.;
tar and feathers U.S. (with reference to the practice of tarring and feathering: see
tar v.
1 b);
tar-baby, (
a) the doll smeared with tar, set to catch Brer Rabbit (see
quot. 1881); hence
transf.,
spec. an object of censure; a sticky problem, or one which is only aggravated by attempts to solve it (
colloq.); (
b) a
derog. term for a Black (
U.S.) or a Maori (
N.Z.);
tar ball, (
a) see
quot. 1735; (
b) a ball of crude oil found in or on the sea;
tar base, any of numerous cyclic, nitrogen-containing bases present in coal-tar distillates;
tar-beer, a mixture of tar and beer, used medicinally (
cf. tar-water 1);
tar-board, see
quot.; ‘a building-paper saturated with tar’ (
Cent. Dict.);
tar-boiler, (
a) a boiler used for tar;
† (
b)
U.S. slang = tarheel (
obs.);
tar-boy Austral. and
N.Z., an assistant hand in a shearing shed who treats injured sheep with tar or other disinfectants;
† tar-breech a., wearing tarry breeches: epithet for a sailor (
cf. tarry-breeks);
tar-bush, one of several aromatic shrubs of western N. America,
esp. one of the genus
Eriodictyon, of the family Hydrophyllaceæ, which includes several sticky or tomentose evergreens;
tar kiln, a covered heap of wood or coal from which tar is obtained by burning;
tar-lamp, a lamp in which tar is used as the illuminant (Knight
Dict. Mech. 1877);
tar-lubber, contemptuous name for a sailor (
cf. 3);
tar-marl,
-marline (
dial.), tarred twine used in thatching;
tar-paper chiefly
N. Amer., paper saturated with tar; often used as a building material;
freq. attrib.;
tar-pavement,
-paving, a form of surfacing for roads, pathways, etc., composed mainly of tar;
† tar-pitch (
terpiche)
= sense 1;
tar-pot, (
a) a pot containing tar; (
b) humorously applied to a sailor (
cf. 3); (
c) an opprobrious name for a Black (
U.S.) or a Maori (
N.Z.) (
cf. tar-baby (
b) above);
tar-putty, a viscid substance made by mixing tar and lamp-black;
tar-sand, a deposit of sand impregnated with bitumen;
tar-weed,
U.S., name for plants of the genera
Madia,
Hemizonia, and
Grindelia, from their viscidity and heavy scent;
tar-well, a receptacle in gas-works for collecting the tarry liquid which separates from the gas;
tar-wood, resinous wood from which tar is obtained;
tar-work, -s, a place for making tar;
tar-worker, a workman employed in making tar;
tar-yard, a yard in which tar is made. See also
tar-barrel, -box, -brush, etc.
| 1909 Chem. Abstr. III. 1079 (heading) Hydrocarbons obtained from the *tar acids of petroleum. 1951 M. McLuhan Mech. Bride (1967) 91 (Advt.), Coal-Tar Chemicals—Benzol, toluol, naphthalene, tar acids, tar bases, solvents, [etc.]. 1974 Tar acid [see tar base below]. |
| 1899 Allbutt's Syst. Med. VIII. 918 A form of eruption very similar to this occurs in workers in creasote and tar—‘*tar acne’. |
| 1775 P. V. Fithian Jrnl. 8 June (1934) II. 25 He hears many of his Townsmen talking of *Tar and Feathers—These mortifying Weapons. 1834 Southern Lit. Messenger I. 87 If he remained longer, he was in danger of tar and feathers. 1954 J. Steinbeck Sweet Thursday xxxviii. 261 He left town, and just as well. There was talk of tar and feathers. He must have heard. 1982 W. Mankowitz Mazeppa vi. 97 The Vigilance Committees..had asserted law summarily with fast necktie parties, rail-rides and tar and feathers. |
| 1881 J. C. Harris Uncle Remus ii. 20 Brer Fox..got 'im some tar, en mix it wid some turkentime, en fix up a contrapshun what he call a *Tar-Baby. a 1910 ‘Mark Twain’ Autobiogr. (1924) II. 18 For two years the Courant had been making a ‘tar baby’ of Mr. Blaine, and adding tar every day—and now it was called upon to praise him. 1924 Kipling Debits & Credits (1926) 97 Number Five Study..were toiling inspiredly at a Tar Baby made up of Beetle's sweater, and half-a-dozen lavatory towels;..and most of Richard's weekly blacking allowance for Prout's House's boots. 1948 S. Lewis Kingsblood Royal 334 ‘I didn't know she was a tar-baby.’.. ‘Don't be so dumb. Can't you see it by her jaw?’ 1959 M. Shadbolt New Zealanders 140 ‘What a hide, though—’ ‘Those tar-babies and that fellow in the sweater.’ 1976 National Observer (U.S.) 29 May 15a/3 The troubled U.S. Postal Service is fast becoming the political tar baby of the year. 1978 J. Updike Coup (1979) iv. 135 She was one of those white women who cannot leave black men alone... Some questing chromosome within holds her sexually fast to the tarbaby. |
| 1735 Bracken in Burdon Pocket Farriery 39 note, There is a Ball under the name of *Tar Ball. 1972 Science 16 June 1258/2 Crude oil lumps (‘tar balls’) are now universal constituents of the surfaces of the world oceans. |
| 1891 Cent. Dict., *Tar bandage, an antiseptic bandage made by saturating a roller bandage, after application, with a mixture of 1 part of olive oil and 20 parts of tar. |
| 1921 Jrnl. Amer. Chem. Soc. XLIII. 1936 Crude coal *tar bases vary greatly..in the nature and in the proportion of the bases which they contain. 1951 [see tar acid above]. 1974 Encycl. Brit. Micropædia II. 1017/2 Tar bases are the basic constituents of the distillate oils, present after tar acids have been removed. |
| 1899 Allbutt's Syst. Med. VIII. 605 A *tar bath..has not only an anti-pruritic but also a curative action. |
| 1906 Daily Chron. 31 Aug. 3/2 In his patched and very much *tar-bedaubed punt. |
| 1857 Dunglison Med. Lex. s.v. Pinus sylvestris, Tar water..is employed chiefly in pulmonary affections... A wine or beer of tar, *Tarbeer, Jews' beer, has been employed in Philadelphia in similar cases. |
| 1909 Westm. Gaz. 30 Aug. 2/1 There are two distinct methods of *tar-binding the surface of our roads. |
| 1877 Knight Dict. Mech., *Tar-board, a strong quality of mill⁓board made from junk and old tarred rope. |
| 1845 Cincinnati Misc. I. 240 The inhabitants of..N. Carolina [are called] *Tar-boilers. 1885 W. Whitman in N. Amer. Rev. Nov. 433 Among the rank and file..[in the Civil War] it was very general to speak of the different States they came from by their slang names. Those from..North Carolina [were called] Tar Boilers. |
| ? a 1500 Chester Pl. vii. 78 With *Tarboyst most bene all tamed, Penigras, and butter for fat sheepe. |
| 1888 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Robbery Under Arms I. x. 123 There wasn't a man of the lot in the shed, down to the *tarboy, that wouldn't have done the same. 1936 A. Russell Gone Nomad iii. 19 Then I found myself a tar-boy in the shearing-shed. 1956 G. Bowen Wool Away! (ed. 2) 157 Tar-boy, the hand who walks the board where sheep are subject to the fly and who puts a smear of tar on the cuts made on sheep. 1977 C. McCullough Thorn Birds x. 231 Luke took himself off on the shearing circuit as a tar boy, slapping molten tar on jagged wounds if a shearer slipped and cut flesh as well as wool. |
| 1878 E. S. Elwell Boy Colonists 205 It took a good month to muster and *tar-brand all the sheep. 1890 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Col. Reformer (1891) 120 Flock..to be counted, or drafted, or shifted, or tar-branded. |
| 1582 Stanyhurst æneis iv. (Arb.) 108 A runnagat hedgebrat, A *tarbreeche quystroune dyd I take. |
| 1723 Amer. Weekly Mercury 23–30 May 2/1 The forced Men..carryed the Brigantine into Curacao, with the Captains Head in a *Tarr Bucket. a 1909 Joseph W. Caldwell: Mem. Vol. (1909) 66 There were a brindled cur dog under the wagon, keeping company with the tar bucket that swung from the coupling pole. 1931 Sun (Baltimore) 28 Oct. 13/4 Tall ‘tar-bucket’ helmets with the black plumes. |
| 1864 Carlyle Fredk. Gt. xv. i. (1873) V. 270 Mankind..took to..*tar-burning and te-deum-ing on an extensive scale. |
| 1884 W. Miller Dict. Eng. Names Plants 134/2 *Tar-bush, Californian. Eriodictyon californicum. 1902 Out West Oct. 452 There were the innumerable cacti with their brilliant flowers, and the tar bush. 1949 Chicago Tribune 20 Feb. 30/3 Cedar and mesquite alone are costing Texas ranchers 115 million dollars a year. Add the..blue oak, creosote, tarbush..and prickly pear and the toll is terrific. |
| 1888 J. Shallow Templars' Trials xi. 24 He approached..as cautiously as a boy with a *tar can does a wasp's nest. |
| 1899 T. Hardy in Academy 18 Nov. 599/1 Great guns were gleaming there—Cloaked in their *tar-cloths. |
| 1900 H. G. Graham Soc. Life Scotl. 18th C. xv. (1901) 513 Thin, short *tar-clotted fleeces of the sheep. |
| 1768 Chron. in Ann. Reg. 113/2 A fire broke out in a tar-yard..by the *tar-copper boiling over. |
| 1879 Jefferies Wild Life in S.C. 47 A couple of flakes fastened together with *tar-cord. |
| 1868 Q. Rev. Apr. 346 A very singular product called *tar-creosote or carbolic acid. |
| 1896 Allbutt's Syst. Med. V. 45 Among the *tar derivatives [may be specially mentioned] creosote and guaiacol. |
| 1894 Westm. Gaz. 8 Mar. 3/3 The stockings..are dyed with *tar-dyes, which are perfectly harmless. |
| 1573 Tusser Husb. (1878) 38 A sheepe marke, a *tar kettle. |
| 1755 Gentl. Mag. XXV. 551/1 A sufficient crop of these old knots (which are full of rosin) for the *tar-kilns. 1943 H. Parkes in C. Goerch Down Home xx. 99 Any one who has ever seen a tar kiln in operation or been around a turpentine distillery will realize what sticky and dirty work it is. |
| 1856 Kane Arct. Expl. II. i. 26 We have been using up our *tar-laid hemp hawsers. |
| 1683 Robinson in Ray's Corr. (1848) 137, I have observed the inhabitants of Languedoc get a *tar⁓like like substance out of the Juniperus. |
| 1899 Allbutt's Syst. Med. VIII. 521 The use of tar soaps, followed by *tar lotions, is sometimes more efficacious. |
| 1610 Healey St. Aug. Citie of God 707 Another *Tarre-lubber bragges that hee is a souldiour. |
| 1844 Stephens Bk. Farm III. 1282 The letter P..on the rump to shew the *tar-mark of the farm on which..it had been bred. |
| 1825 Jamieson Suppl. II. 86/1 An old Angus laird,..on observing that one of the young ladies had both earrings and patches, cried out..in obvious allusion to the means employed by store-farmers for preserving their sheep; ‘Wow, wow! Mrs. Janet, your father's been michtilie fleyd for tyning you, that he's baith lug-markit ye and *tar-markit ye.’ 1918 Chrons. N.Z.E.F. 30 Aug. 61 Tar-marking and branding cattle. |
| 1863 Stamford Mercury 27 Sept., He got some *tar-marline and tied the horse's mouth. |
| 1713 Steele Englishman No. 47. 303, I stood by just now, when a Fellow came in here with a *Tar Neckcloth. |
| 1891 Cent. Dict., *Tar-oil, a volatile oil obtained by distilling tar. 1895 Outing (U.S.) XXVI. 365/1 The little black bottle of tar-oil. |
| 1787 P. F. Freneau Journey from Philadelphia ii. 14 You *tar-painted [Poems (1795) vii. 343: Tar-smelling] monster!.. If Snip should be drownded, and lost in the sea, You never once think what a loss it would be! |
| 1906 Westm. Gaz. 13 Sept. 10/2 The cost of *tar-painting a road eight yards wide averages about {pstlg}60 a mile. |
| 1891 H. Campbell Darkness & Daylight xxxi. 611 If he ventures to charge more, except for a dress..or for *tar-paper..he is liable to lose the license. 1907 Putnam's Monthly July 482/1 A whole house covered with tar paper and studded with brass tacks sat complacently upon a hay wagon. 1919 S. Lewis Free Air 122 Then a lonely, tight-haired woman in the doorway of a tar-paper shack waved to her. 1966 D. F. Galouye Lost Perception ix. 89 The plane..taxied up to a frame building with a tarpaper roof. 1978 R. Ludlum Holcroft Covenant xxxii. 370 The tar paper..bulged slightly next to the wall. |
| 1883 Proc. Assoc. Munic. Engin. X. 53 The tar macadam roadways and *tar paved footways..I found in good..order. |
| 1883 Proc. Assoc. Municipal Engin. X. 53 My first experience in *tar pavement was in 1850. |
| Ibid., *Tar paving had been used to some extent for footways previous to..March 1881. 1967 Gloss. Highway Engin. Terms (B.S.I.) 47 Tar paving, a surfacing of tarmacadam laid in one or two courses for footpaths, playgrounds, and similar areas for pedestrian or very light vehicular traffic. |
| 1728 E. Smith Compl. Housewife (ed. 2) 304 The *Tar Pills for a Cough. Take Tar and drop it on Powder of Liquorish, and make it up into Pills. 1808 Med. Jrnl. XIX. 225 Tar pills made up with magnesia were also administered. |
| 1839 Ure Dict. Arts 963 A considerable quantity is distilled over into the *tar-pit. |
| a 1387 Sinon. Barthol. (Anecd. Oxon.) 34 Pix liquida,..*terpiche. |
| 1899 Allbutt's Syst. Med. VIII. 582 A *tar plaster is better than one of chrysarobin. |
| 1573 Tusser Husb. (1878) 30 With tar in a *tarpot. 1641 Best Farm. Bks. (Surtees) 23 One of the girles is to keepe fire under the tarr-potte. 1903 F. T. Bullen in Daily Chron. 8 June 3/3 Like many other old tar-pots, I have been intensely annoyed and disgusted by the so-called ‘real’ sea-books put forward. 1944 H. L. Mencken in Amer. Speech XIX. 174 Pickaninny was..used..affectionately. So..was tar-pot..signifying a Negro child. 1949 F. Sargeson I saw in my Dream xiii. 120 He'd never let the tarpots inside the shed with their lousy sheep. |
| c 1394 P. Pl. Crede 618 Þei may trussen her part in a *terre powȝe! |
| 1903 Westm. Gaz. 16 Sept. 2/1 The value of the annual output of *tar products is over ten millions. |
| 1888 Engineer LXVI. 521 ‘*Tar-putty’..a viscous mixture of tar and well calcined lampblack. |
| 1896 Howells Impressions & Exp. 282 A *tar-roofed shanty. |
| 1844 Stephens Bk. Farm III. 1118 Applying *tar-salve to sheep. |
| 1899 Nature 15 June 159/1 Great trouble has been experienced in the effort to penetrate the ‘*tar-sands’ at the base of the Cretaceous strata. 1978 Ibid. 29 June 703/3 The heavier oils will also have to be used as chemical feedstocks in the future: for example, Canada's ‘tar sands’, now the subject of a multi-million dollar project in Alberta. |
| 1973 R. Adams Watership Down (ed. 2) xxiv. 173 He sat..on the bank above the *tar-smelling road. |
| 1892 Pall Mall G. 22 Sept. 14/2 The *tar-soaked logs burn with a peculiar brilliance. |
| 1899 Allbutt's Syst. Med. VIII. 584 To take frequent baths with *tar soap. |
| 1909 Westm. Gaz. 30 Aug. 2/1 Roads..treated by the cheaper method of *tar-spraying them on the surface. |
| 1775 R. Chandler Trav. Greece (1825) II. 367 The *tar-springs of Zante are a natural curiosity deserving notice. |
| 1782 J. Trumbull M'Fingal iv. 70 Adown his *tar-streak'd visage, clear Fell..th'indignant tear. 1939 S. Spender Still Centre iv. 94 You stood once In the tar-streaked drizzling street. |
| 1899 Allbutt's Syst. Med. VIII. 605 To paint the skin with a strong *tar tincture. |
| 1534 Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scotl. VI. 235 For the lane of ane *tar troch, viij d. |
| 1697 tr. C'tess D'Aunoy's Wks. (1715) 375 He ran to his nasty *Tar-tub of a Mistress. |
| 1805 Dickson Pract. Agric. I. 48 The outside..properly payed over with pitch or *tar-varnish. |
| 1898 J. Hutchinson in Arch. Surg. IX. No. 36. 373, I prescribed a *tar wash and it suited admirably. |
| 1884 Miller Plant-n., *Tar-weed, Californian, the genera Madia and Hemizonia. 1909 Daily Chron. 8 Mar. 4/6 The unjustly named ‘tar-weed’..scattered over great tracts of wild country..California smells of it, and smells very pleasantly. |
| 1857 Miller Elem. Chem. III. 558 The tar, as it accumulates..flows over into the *tar wells. |
| 1856 Emerson Eng. Traits iv. 65 King Hake..sets fire to some *tar-wood. |
| 1791 Trans. Soc. Arts IX. 132 The iron-masters furnish the *Tar-works with coal. |
| 1906 Westm. Gaz. 10 Aug. 10/2 The average life of *tar-workers is eighty-six. 1768 *Tar-yard [see tar-copper above]. |
Add:
[1.] f. (
a) Opium, taken as an intoxicant or stimulant drug (now
rare); (
b) heroin,
esp. in a potent black form (
black tar).
U.S. slang.
| 1935 A. J. Pollock Underworld Speaks 119/1 Tar, opium. 1956 Illicit Narcotics Traffic: Hearings Comm. on Judiciary U.S. Senate (84th Congress, 1st Sess.) viii. 4161 Opium in the underworld is referred to by various names. For instance, ‘mud’, ‘tar’, ‘black stuff’ [etc.]. 1986 N.Y. Times 28 Mar. 1/3 An unusually potent and dangerous new form of Mexican heroin is being spread rapidly across the United States... The new heroin which users call black tar because it resembles roofing tar..is..dominating the nation's heroin markets. |
▪ II. ‖ tar, n.2 Anglo-Ind. (
tɑː(r))
[Hindi tār.] A telegram.
| 1893 Kipling in Harper's Weekly 30 Dec. 1246/3 My father is at the tar-house sending tars. 1901 ― Kim xi. 286 Therefore I did not send a tar (telegram) to any one saying where the letter lay. 1978 ‘M. M. Kaye’ Far Pavilions iv. xxviii. 411 It would have been a simple matter for the Rana..to arrange for a tar (telegram) to be dispatched. |
▪ III. tar, v.1 (
tɑː(r))
Pa. tense and
pple. tarred (
tɑːd). Forms: 1
tięrwian,
tyrwian; 3–5
terren, 4
tere; 5–7
tarre, 6–8
tarr, 6–
tar.
[f. OE. teoru, teorw-, tar n.1] a. trans. To smear or cover with tar. Also
absol.| [a 1000 Beowulf 295 Niw tyrwydne [= new-tarred] nacan on sande arum healdan.] c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 2596 In an fetles of riȝesses wroȝt, Terred ðat water dered it noȝt, Ðis child wunden ȝhe wulde don. c 1300 Havelok 707 Hise ship..He dede it tere, an ful wel pike. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 489/2 Terryn, wythe terre, colofoniso. 1495 Naval Acc. Hen. VII (1896) 214 Hawsers olde & ffeble Tarred—iij; New Hawsers nott tarred—j. 1600 Shakes. A.Y.L. iii. ii. 63 Our hands..are often tarr'd ouer, with the surgery of our sheepe. 1689 Lond. Gaz. No. 2483/3 They had Tarr'd the Bridge, and laid Combustible Stuff in order to burn it. 1783 M. Cutler in Life, etc. (1888) I. 94 Tarred apple-trees to keep the millers from going up. 1840 Longfellow in Life (1891) I. 361 The canker-worms have begun their journey up the trees, and to-morrow I shall tar. 1884 Act 47 & 48 Vict. c. 76 §5 A person shall not, without due authority,..paint or tar any post office,..telegraph post, or other property. |
b. To smear (a person's body) over with tar;
esp. in
phr. to tar and feather, to smear with tar and then cover with feathers: a punishment sometimes inflicted by a mob (
esp. in
U.S.) on an unpopular or scandalous character. Also
fig. (The practice was imposed by an ordinance of Richard I in 1189 as a punishment in the navy for theft: see Rymer
Foedera (1704) I. 65/2, Hakluyt
Voy. (1599) II. 21, Holinshed
Chron. (1807) II. 213; in Howell's
Fam. Lett. (1650, I. iii. xxvii. 81) it is said to have been applied in 1623 by a bishop of Halverstade to a party of incontinent friars and nuns; but in neither case is the specific term used.)
| 1769 Boston (Mass.) Chron. 30 Oct. 3/2 A person..was stripped naked, put into a cart, where he was first tarred, then feathered. 1774 J. Adams in Fam. Lett. (1876) 12 Pote..railed away at Boston mobs, drowning tea, and tarring Malcom. 1774 T. Hutchinson Diary 1 July, K[ing George III].—I see they threatened to pitch and feather you. H[utchinson].—Tarr and feather, may it please your Majesty. 1774 Burke Amer. Tax. Wks. II. 374 You must send the ministers tarred and feathered to America. 1774 Chron. in Ann. Reg. 127/2 Mr. John Malcomb, an officer of the customs at Boston, who was tarred and feathered, and led to the gallows with a rope about his neck. 1784 Dk. Rutland Corr. w. Pitt (1890) 37 Persons are daily marked out for the operation of tarring and feathering. 1846 Hare Mission Comf. ii. (1876) 61 [We] tar and feather our feelings with the dust and dirt of earth. 1850 N. Hawthorne in Bridge Pers. Recoll. (1893) 114 If I escape from town without being tarred and feathered, I shall consider it good-luck. 1925 A. Huxley Those Barren Leaves ii. iii. 113 Miss Carruthers, who has a short way with dissenters, would like to see them tarred and feathered—all except pacifists, who, like strikers, could do with a little shooting. 1960 N. Annan in Victorian Stud. June 331 The individualist, the eccentric, the man who offends against the trivial rules of the club, are tarred and feathered with gleeful brutality. 1977 Daily News (Perth, Austral.) 19 Jan. 6/5 The victims were stripped naked, tarred and shorn of their hair. 1981 A. Price Soldier no More 161 The Russians..wouldn't have cared less if we'd tarred and feathered Nasser and run him out of Suez on a rail. |
c. fig. To dirty or defile as with tar;
esp. in
phr. tarred with the same stick (or brush), stained with the same or similar faults or obnoxious qualities. (In
quot. a 1612, ? to darken, obscure; in
quot. 1622 in allusion to the protective and curative use of tar by shepherds, etc.)
| a 1612 Harington Epigr. (1633) i. lxviii, To purge the vapours that our cleare sight tarres. 1622 Fletcher & Massinger Span. Curate iii. ii, I have nointed ye, and tarr'd ye with my doctrine, And yet the murren sticks to ye. 1818 Scott Rob Roy xxvi, They are a' tarr'd wi' the same stick—rank Jacobites and Papists. 1823 Cobbett Rural Rides (1885) I. 283 ‘You are all tarred with the same brush’, said the sensible people of Maidstone. 1860 Reade Cloister & H. xl, Now this Gerard is tarred with the same stick. 1881 W. E. Forster in Reid Life (1888) II. viii. 368 My replacement by some one not tarred by the coercion brush. |
▪ IV. tar, † tarre, v.2 Obs. or
arch. Forms: α. 1
tyrw(i)an, 5
terw-yn; 4–5
terre(n, 4
ter, 4–
Sc. terr. β. 4–7
tarre, 5–
tar.
[ME. terren, app. representing OE. *tęrw(i)an (*tięrw-, tyrw-), collateral form of tęrᵹan (tięrᵹ-, tyrᵹ-) to vex, irritate, provoke. For the phonology cf. tar v.1 See also tary v. OE. tęrᵹan (
WSax. *tięrᵹ-,
tyrᵹan),
*tęrw(i)an (
*tięrw-,
tyrw(i)an)
= OLG.
*tęrgan,
MLG. tergen,
targen,
LG. and EFris.
targen,
Da. tærge,
MDu.,
Du. tergen, to provoke, irritate, exasperate, vex, tease (Kilian, ‘
terghen irritare, lacessere, infestare, vexare, provocare ad iram, exacerbare’),
mod.Ger. zergen; pointing to an
OTeut. *targjan. The phonology of the
OE. by-form
tęrw(i)an has not been satisfactorily explained. Relationship to Russian
dergat{supi} ‘to pluck, pull, tweak’ has been suggested.]
1. trans. To irritate, vex, provoke. Now only in
tar on (
Shakes. tarre on), to incite, hound on.
| a 1000 Guthlac 259 (288) Beoð þa ᵹebolᵹne þa þec breodwiað, tredað þec and terᵹað and hyra torn wrecað. a 900 Kentish Gl. 508 Tirhþ, inridet. 10.. Lambeth Ps. lxxiii. 10 Usque quo deus improperabit inimicus: gl. hu longe tyrweþ fynd. Ibid. lxxvii. 8 Generatio praua et exasperans: gl. þweor mæᵹþ & tyrwiende vel þurhbitter. Ibid. 40 Quotiens exacerbaverunt eum: gl. hu ᵹelome hiᵹ tyrwedon hine. Ibid. 41 Hiᵹ tyrwadon vel gremedon. Ibid. 55 Hiᵹ costnadon & tyrwodan god þane healican. |
| c 1380 Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. II. 44 To terre [v.r. ter] men for to fiȝte. 1382 ― Deut. iv. 25 That ȝe terren [v.r. MSS. a 1400 tarre] hym to wraþþe. ― Eph. vi. 4 Ȝe fadris, nyle ȝe terre ȝoure sones to wraþþe. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) V. 355 Þe kynges..sone..gan to tarry [v.r. terre] and to angre [probrosis verbis lacessivit] þe Longobardes. 1395 Purvey Remonstr. (1851) 18 Thei blasfemen God and terren him to wraththe. |
| β a 1400 Tarre [see quot. 1382 above]. 1561 in Three 15th Cent. Chron. (Camden) 119 They came unto me rounde aboute my chamber,..stearde me, and tarde me, and so vexed me as I was never in my lyffe so soore troubled. 1595 Shakes. John iv. i. 117 And, like a dogge,..Snatch at his Master that doth tarre him on. 1602 ― Ham. ii. ii. 370 The Nation holds it no sinne, to tarre them to Controuersie. 1606 ― Tr. & Cr. i. iii. 392 Pride alone Must tarre the Mastiffes on, as 'twere their bone. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. I. ii. ii, The cries, the squealings of children,..and other assistants, tarring them on, as the rabble does when dogs fight. 1859 Kingsley Misc. II. v. 225 The selfishness of the memorialists led them to tar on the rival selfishness of the water companies. |
† 2. To weary, fatigue.
Obs. rare.
[Known only in form
terw-yn. The sense in
Promp. Parv. corresponds rather to the
trans. use of
OE. téorian to tire, but was possibly an offshoot from that of ‘vex, harass’. The same sense-development appears also in the cognate
tary v. 2.]
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 489/2 Terwyn, or make wery or weryyn, lasso, fatigo. Terwyd, lassatus, fatigatus. Terwynge, lassitudo, fatigacio. Ibid. 522/2 Weryyn, or make wery or terwyn, fatigo, lasso. |
† 3. intr. tar and tig,
tig and tar, to act forcefully or wantonly; to use force and violence.
Sc.| c 1470 Henryson Mor. Fab. v. (Parl. Beasts) i, [The fox] That luifit weill with pultrie to tig and tar [Bann. MS. tere]. a 1568 Balnaves in Bannatyne Poems (Hunter. Cl.) 391 To tar and tig, syne grace to thig, That is ane petouss preiss. Ibid. 392 To tig and tar, syne get the war, It is evill merchandyiss. |
Hence
† tarring (
terring)
vbl. n., provocation.
| 1382 Wyclif 2 Kings xxiii. 26 The Lord is not turned aweye fro the wrath of his grete woodnes..for the terryngis in the whiche Manasses hadde terred hym. ― Ps. xciv. 9 As in the terring [1388 the terrying to wroþþe], after the day of tempting in desert. |
▪ V. tar obs. f. tare,
tore,
pa. tense of
tear v.
1