tar1

[tahr] /tɑr/
noun
1.
any of various dark-colored viscid products obtained by the destructive distillation of certain organic substances, as coal or wood.
2.
coal-tar pitch.
3.
smoke solids or components:
cigarette tar.
verb (used with object), tarred, tarring.
4.
to smear or cover with or as if with tar.
adjective
5.
of or characteristic of tar.
6.
covered or smeared with tar; tarred.
Idioms
7.
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.
8.
tar and feather,
  1. to coat (a person) with tar and feathers as a punishment or humiliation.
  2. to punish severely:
    She should be tarred and feathered for what she has done.
9.
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
before 900; (noun) Middle English tarr(e), ter(re), Old English teru; cognate with Dutch, German teer, Old Norse tjara; akin to tree; (v.) Middle English terren, Old English tierwian, derivative of the noun
Related forms
nontarred, adjective
untarred, adjective
British Dictionary definitions for tar and feather

tar1

/tɑː/
noun
1.
any of various dark viscid substances obtained by the destructive distillation of organic matter such as coal, wood, or peat
2.
another name for coal tar
verb (transitive) tars, tarring, tarred
3.
to coat with tar
4.
tar and feather, to punish by smearing tar and feathers over (someone)
5.
tarred with the same brush, regarded as having the same faults
Derived Forms
tarry, adjective
tarriness, noun
Word Origin
Old English teoru; related to Old Frisian tera, Old Norse tjara, Middle Low German tere tar, Gothic triu tree

tar2

/tɑː/
noun
1.
an informal word for seaman
Word Origin
C17: short for tarpaulin
Word Origin and History for tar and feather

tar

n.

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.

"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.

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 and feather in Science
tar
  (tär)   

  1. A dark, oily, viscous material, consisting mainly of hydrocarbons, produced by the destructive distillation of organic substances such as wood, coal, or peat.

  2. See coal tar.

  3. A solid, sticky substance that remains when tobacco is burned. It accumulates in the lungs of smokers and is considered carcinogenic.


Slang definitions & phrases for tar and feather

tar

noun

A sailor

[1676+; fr the tarpaulin garments they made and wore]


tar and feather in Technology

jargon
(A sick contrivance from the Unix tar command and the Ku Klux Klan torture method) To create a transportable archive from a group of files by first sticking them together with tar (the Tape ARchiver) and then compressing the result. The latter action is dubbed "feathering" (purely for contrived effect) by analogy to what you do with an aeroplane propeller to decrease wind resistance, or with an oar to reduce water resistance; smaller files, after all, slip through comm links more easily.
[Jargon File]
(1997-05-26)

Idioms and Phrases with tar and feather

tar and feather

Criticize severely, punish, as in The traditionalists often want to tar and feather those who don't conform. This expression alludes to a former brutal punishment in which a person was smeared with tar and covered with feathers, which then stuck. It was first used as a punishment for theft in the English navy, recorded in the Ordinance of Richard I in 1189, and by the mid-1700s had become mob practice. The figurative usage dates from the mid-1800s.

tar

In addition to the idiom beginning with tar also see: beat the living daylights (tar) out of
Encyclopedia Article for tar and feather

tar

(Iranian: "string"), long-necked lute descended from the tanbur of Sasanian Iran and known in a variety of forms throughout the Middle East, the Caucasus, and Central Asia. Its name traditionally signified the number of strings employed-e.g., dutar ("two-strings"), setar ("three-strings"), and cartar ("four-strings")-but this is no longer true, as the sitar of India has up to seven strings. The body of the tar is hollowed out of a single piece of wood and is rounded out in two bulges so that the membrane-covered belly is like a figure 8 or hourglass. The instrument, which is played with a small metal pick, has movable frets and lateral pegs for the metal strings that are rib-fastened. The word tar is also a generic term for Middle Eastern tambourines.

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