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tar1
/tahr/, n., v., tarred, tarring, adj.n.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.4. beat, knock, or 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.v.t.5. to smear or cover with or as if with tar.6. tar and feather,a. to coat (a person) with tar and feathers as a punishment or humiliation.b. to punish severely: She should be tarred and feathered for what she has done.adj.7. of or characteristic of tar.8. covered or smeared with tar; tarred.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.[bef. 900; (n.) ME tarr(e), ter(re), OE teru; c. D, G teer, ON tjara; akin to TREE; (v.) ME terren, OE tierwian, deriv. of the n.]tar2/tahr/, n. Informal.a sailor.[1740-50; perh. short for TARPAULIN]
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(Iranian: “string”), long-necked lute descended from the tanbur of Sāsānian 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., dutār (“two-strings”), setār (“three-strings”), and cartār (“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.* * *
Universalium. 2010.
