Word.ws English Dictionary

teart

UK/tɪət/US/tɪɚt/

teart adjective: tending toward scouring (diarrheal illness) in grazing livestock, being high in molybdenum content and neutral to alkaline in pH.

Adjective

teart

  1. (agriculture and soil science) Tending toward scouring (diarrheal illness) in grazing livestock, being high in molybdenum content and neutral to alkaline in pH.
    • Abstract: The novelty of the subject matter and the fact that the information is conveyed in the form of a bulletin addressed to farmers, pending later publication of further experimental data in the scientific press, justifies a lengthy abstract for readers of the Veterinary Bulletin. The local...Ferguson WS; Lewis AH; Watson SJ (1941), The Teart Pasture of Somerset: Cause of Teartness and its Prevention. Bulletin No. 1 of the Jealott's Hill Research Station., →OCLC
    • Teart soils contain molybdenum in amounts varying from about 0·002 to 0·010% in the surface horizon and are neutral or alkaline in reaction and often calcareous. The contents of molybdenum increase down the soil profile. Those [soils] which are acid in reaction in the surface horizons are not teart...1943, AH Lewis, “The teart pastures of Somerset: II. Relation between soil and teartness”, in The Journal of Agricultural Science, volume 33, number 1, →DOI, pages 52–57

Examples of teart in a sentence

  • Hence growing pastures may be teart even when cut hay is not. […] [Various ameliorants are available but] Wherever possible, however, it is advisable to convert teart pastures to arable land. [H.H.Ferguson WS; Lewis AH; Watson SJ (1941), The Teart Pasture of Somerset: Cause of Teartness and its Prevention. Bulletin No. 1 of the...
  • Teart soils contain molybdenum in amounts varying from about 0·002 to 0·010% in the surface horizon and are neutral or alkaline in reaction and often calcareous.1943, AH Lewis, “The teart pastures of Somerset: II. Relation between soil and teartness”, in The Journal of Agricultural Science, volume...

Origin of teart

Dialectal form of tart, applied by British farmers to soils since before the era of chemical science and the discovery of molybdenum but retroactively defined by molybdenum concentration and pH level.

Questions about teart

What does teart mean?
Teart means tending toward scouring (diarrheal illness) in grazing livestock, being high in molybdenum content and neutral to alkaline in pH.
How do you use teart in a sentence?
Hence growing pastures may be teart even when cut hay is not. […] [Various ameliorants are available but] Wherever possible, however, it is advisable to convert teart pastures to arable land. [H.H.
What part of speech is teart?
Teart is an adjective.
How do you pronounce teart?
Teart is pronounced /tɪɚt/ (US).

Words near teart in the dictionary

  1. tearstained
  2. tearstains
  3. tearstreaked
  4. tearstrip
  5. tearstrips
  6. teart
  7. tearthumb
  8. tearthumbs
  9. teartness
  10. teary
  11. teary-eyed

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: teart (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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