Library / English Dictionary

TAR

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

Irregular inflected forms: tarred    , tarring   

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A man who serves as a sailor

Synonyms:

gob; Jack; Jack-tar; mariner; old salt; sea dog; seafarer; seaman; tar

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("tar" is a kind of...):

crewman; sailor (any member of a ship's crew)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "tar"):

able-bodied seaman; able seaman (a seaman in the merchant marine; trained in special skills)

bo's'n; bo'sun; boatswain; bos'n; bosun (a petty officer on a merchant ship who controls the work of other seamen)

deckhand; roustabout (a member of a ship's crew who performs manual labor)

helmsman; steerer; steersman (the person who steers a ship)

bargee; bargeman; lighterman (someone who operates a barge)

officer; ship's officer (a person authorized to serve in a position of authority on a vessel)

pilot (a person qualified to guide ships through difficult waters going into or out of a harbor)

sea lawyer (an argumentative and contentious seaman)

whaler (a seaman who works on a ship that hunts whales)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Any of various dark heavy viscid substances obtained as a residue

Synonyms:

pitch; tar

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Hypernyms ("tar" is a kind of...):

bitumen (any of various naturally occurring impure mixtures of hydrocarbons)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "tar"):

coal tar (a tar formed from distillation of bituminous coal; coal tar can be further distilled to give various aromatic compounds)

Derivation:

tar (coat with tar)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Coat with tar

Example:

tar the roads

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "tar" is one way to...):

coat; surface (put a coat on; cover the surface of; furnish with a surface)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

tar (any of various dark heavy viscid substances obtained as a residue)

Credits

 Context examples: 

Anthracene, also called paranaphthalene or green oil, a solid polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) consisting of three benzene rings derived from coal-tar, is the simplest tricyclic aromatic hydrocarbon.

(Anthracene, NCI Thesaurus)

When they are smoked, they make many of the same harmful chemicals found in tobacco smoke, including tar and carbon monoxide.

(Herbal cigarette, NCI Dictionary)

Filters may be used in cigarettes to help trap tar and other harmful substances found in tobacco smoke.

(Filter, NCI Dictionary)

Juniper tar is used as a topical treatment for various skin conditions.

(Juniper Tar, NCI Thesaurus)

A complex mixture of dusts, vapors and gases that contains various known or potential carcinogens, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, formaldehyde, nitrosamines, coal tar and coal tar pitch, cadmium, benzene and arsenic compounds.

(Coke Oven Emission, NCI Thesaurus)

Dibenzo[a,h]pyrene is primarily found in engine exhaust, cigarette tar and coal tar pitch.

(Dibenzo[a,h]pyrene, NCI Thesaurus)

The Portuguese held his tongue like a brick, and walked the plank, while the jolly tars cheered like mad.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Examples of hydrocarbons are coal, petroleum, natural gas and tar.

(Hydrocarbon, NCI Dictionary)

An aromatic hydrocarbon in coal tar, allied to naphthalene and anthracene.

(Chrysene, NCI Thesaurus)

Any of a group of isomeric compounds that are monomethyl derivatives of pyridines derived from coal tar, horse urine, and bone oil.

(Picoline Compound, NCI Thesaurus)