Word.ws English Dictionary

catching a Tartar

catching a Tartar is the present participle and gerund of catch a Tartar.

Meaning of catch a Tartar

Verb

catch a Tartar (third-person singular simple present catches a Tartar, present participle catching a Tartar, simple past and past participle caught a Tartar)

  1. (archaic, colloquial) To discover someone is much stronger, much more dangerous, or much more violent than they appeared at first, especially after laying hands on them
    • Now thou hast got me for a Tartar,
      To make m 'gainst my will take quarter.1674, Samuel Butler, Hudibras, §1.3.175
  2. (obsolete, thieves' cant) To fail in attempt to rob someone who turns out to be a stronger robber.
  3. (archaic, colloquial, figuratively) To discover someone who cannot be controlled or disposed of more generally.
    • You must give up flirting, my boy, or if I mistake not, you'll find you've caught a Tartar.1897, Florence Marryat, chapter XIV, in The Blood of the Vampire

Questions about catching a Tartar

What is catching a Tartar the present participle and gerund of?
Catching a Tartar is the present participle and gerund of catch a Tartar.

Words near catching a Tartar in the dictionary

  1. catching a fade
  2. catching a falling knife
  3. catching a packet
  4. catching a ride
  5. catching a stray
  6. catching a Tartar
  7. catching a wave
  8. catching air
  9. catching bargain
  10. catching bargains
  11. catching big air

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: catching a Tartar (page history and authors); catch a Tartar (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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