tar
UK/tɑː//tɑɹ/
tar noun: coal tar. Also the ellipsis of black tar heroin.
Noun (1)
tar (countable and uncountable, plural tars)
- Coal tar.
- (often typeset "tar" in USA) A solid residual byproduct of tobacco smoke.
- A sailor (because of the traditional tarpaulin clothes).
- Shines in all climates like a star; In senates bold, and fierce in war; A land commander, and a tar.1723, Jonathan Swift, To Charles Mordaunt, Earl of Peterborough
- a ruminating tar was[…]adorning [the wooden settle] with his jack-knife,[…]trying his hand at a ship under full sail.1851, Herman Melville, Moby Dick
Verb (1)
tar (third-person singular simple present tars, present participle tarring, simple past and past participle tarred)
- To coat with tar.
- To besmirch.
- The allegations tarred his name, even though he was found innocent.
- Dr. Sign: In fact, maybe you think I should get credit, but if I do, Dr. Frendall will be scorned. You know why
Dr. Ellsworth: Yes, I know. Your critics will tar him with the same brush as you.1995, Paul Robinson, The Gate Contracts
Noun (2)
tar (plural tars)
Verb (2)
tar (third-person singular simple present tars, present participle tarring, simple past and past participle tarred)
- To create a tar archive.
Noun (3)
tar (plural tars)
- A Persian long-necked, waisted string instrument, shared by many cultures and countries in the Middle East and the Caucasus.
- MOHAMMAD REZA SHAJARIAN (Thursday) Renowned in his native Iran, the vocalist Mohammad Reza Shajarian has been performing since the 1960s, and is now widely considered one of the finest classical Persian singers in the world. Mr. Shajarian’s son, Homayoun Shajarian, will provide additional vocals...2008 May 30, The New York Times, “Pop and Rock Listings”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 09 Apr 2022
Noun (4)
tar (plural tars)
- A single-headed round frame drum originating in North Africa and the Middle East.
Proper noun (1) capitalized: TAR
TAR
- Initialism of Tibet Autonomous Region, an administrative region of China.
Proper noun (2) capitalized: Tar
Tar
Also used as
tar is also the ellipsis of black tar heroin.
tar is also the alternative form of tara.
tar meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
tar in Hindi
- substance
- तारकोल tārkol
tar in Tamil
- substance
- தார் tār
tar in Marathi
- टार
tar in Urdu
- substance
- تارْکول tārkol
More languagesFewer languages
- tar in Telugu
- తారు, తార్, టార్
- tar in Malayalam
- ടാർ
- tar in Kannada
- ತಾರ್, ತಾರ್ಗೆ
- tar in Punjabi
- ਟਾਰ
- tar in Gujarati
- ટાર
- tar in Odia
- ଟାର, ଟାର୍, ଟାରକୁ
- tar in Nepali
- टार
- tar in Pashto
- قطران qetrān, تارکول tārkól
- tar in Tagalog
- ayangaw, alkitran
- tar in Arabic
- قَطْرَان qaṭrān
- tar in Persian
- قطران qatrân, تار târ
- tar in Thai
- น้ำมันดิน nám-man-din
- tar in Vietnamese
- hắc ín
- tar in Myanmar
- ကတ္တရာစေး katta.race:
Examples of tar in a sentence
- The Canadian tar sands are a promising source of oil.
- In the 19th century British sailors wore sennit or sennet hats. Originally made by the sailors themselves they could be waterproofed with tar.
- You might let your kid have Twizzlers, but not inject black tar heroin!
Synonyms of tar
Antonyms
Forms of tar
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | tars |
| alternative form | tār |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | tars |
| present participle | tarring |
| past participle | tarred |
| past | tarred |
Origin of tar
PIE word *dóru Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *dóruder. Proto-Germanic *terwą Old English teoru Middle English ter English tar From Middle English ter, terr, tarr, from Old English teoru, from Proto-West Germanic *teru, from Proto-Germanic *terwą, from Proto-Indo-European *derwo-, from *dóru (“tree”). See also Saterland Frisian Taar, West Frisian tarre, tar, Dutch teer, German Teer; also Welsh derw (“oaks”), Lithuanian dervà (“pinewood, resin”), Russian де́рево (dérevo, “tree”), Bulgarian дърво́ (dărvó, “tree”). More at tree.
Abbreviation of tape archive.
Borrowed from Persian تار (târ). Doublet of tantra.
Words formed from tar
- untar
- Archangel tar
- Athabasca tar sands
- beat the tar out of
- birch tar
- black as tar
- black tar
- coal tar
- gas tar
- green tar
- Jack Tar
- jacktar
- juniper tar
- mineral tar
- pine tar
- pitch-tar
- slow as tar
- spoil the ship for a hap'orth of tar
- Stockholm tar
- tar apple
- tar baby
- tar-black
- tar board
- tar boil
- tarbrush
- tarbucket
- tarcrete
- tar derby
- Tar Heel
- tarlike
- tarmac
- tarmacadam
- tarpaper
- tar paper
- tarpaulin
- tar pit
- tarpit
- tarpot
- tarrish
- tarry
- tar sand
- tarseal
- tar spot
- tar water
- tarweed
- the tackies hit the tar
- the tar out of
- touch of the tar brush
- wood tar
- retar
- tar and feather
- tar out
- tar with the same brush
- tar with the same stick
- untarred
- tarball
- tarbomb
- tarfile
Phrases with tar
- chao tar
- chow tar
- tar pits
- tar boils
- Tar Heels
- tar sands
- tar apples
- tar babies
- tar papers
- tar waters
- Tar Heel State
- Tar Heel Stater
10 more phrasesFewer phrases
- black tar heroin
- beats the tar out of
- beaten the tar out of
- beating the tar out of
- touches of the tar brush
- spoil the ship for a ha'p'orth of tar
- spoils the ship for a ha'p'orth of tar
- spoilt the ship for a ha'p'orth of tar
- spoiled the ship for a ha'p'orth of tar
- spoiling the ship for a ha'p'orth of tar
Words that rhyme with tar
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- water bar
- char
- var
- AAR
- bazaar
- caviar
- lodestar
- Mullingar
- Myanmar
- scar
- ajar
- arr
- barre
- boudoir
- cigar
- cymar
- czar
- disbar
- gar
- guitar
- haar
- instar
- lar
- Loire
- noir
- NPR
- omar
- schwar
- their
- tl;dr
- tsar
- TTR
- upbar
- USSR
- yar
- -dar
- AGR
- alcazar
- armoire
- au revoir
- bahar
- baignoire
- Bashar
- beaux-arts
- beer bar
- Berger Picard
- Bihar
- bête noire
Questions about tar
- What does tar mean?
- Tar means coal tar.
- What is tar in Hindi?
- Tar in Hindi is तारकोल (tārkol). See Tar meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is tar?
- Tar can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce tar?
- Tar is pronounced /tɑː/ (UK).
- What is the plural of tar?
- The plural of tar is tars.
Words near tar in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: tar (page history and authors); TAR (page history and authors); Tar (page history and authors); tar (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); tar (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); tar (Malayalam, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); tar (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); tar (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); tar (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); tar (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); tar (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). 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.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-tar.ogg, en-au-tar.ogg.
Cite this entry: “tar.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/tar. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.