Dictionary:

tar¹

  (tär)

1. A dark, oily, viscous material, consisting mainly of hydrocarbons, produced by the destructive distillation of organic substances such as wood, coal, or peat.
2. Coal tar.
3. A solid residue of tobacco smoke containing byproducts of combustion.

To coat with or as if with tar.

tar and feather

1. To punish (a person) by covering with tar and feathers.
2. To criticize severely and devastatingly; excoriate.

1. Having the same faults or bad qualities.

[Middle English, from Old English teru.]

A sailor.

[Possibly short for TARPAULIN.]

noun

A person engaged in sailing or working on a ship: jack (uppercase), jack-tar, mariner, navigator, sailor, sea dog, seafarer, seaman. Informal salt. Slang gob³. See sea.

Idioms beginning with tar:
target
tar and feather
tarred with the same brush

In addition to the idiom beginning with tar, also see beat the living daylights (tar) out of.

n. informal, dated a sailor.

See the Introduction, Abbreviations and Pronunciation for further details.

In the American colonies, tar was a by-product of land clearing and was both exported and supplied to local shipyards. In 1705 Parliament established bounties on naval stores, including tar, imported from the colonies. Following the passage of this law and subsequent acts, annual shipments of pitch and tar from the colonies to Great Britain increased from less than one thousand barrels to more than eighty-two thousand barrels. During the era of wooden ships, tar retained an important place in manufacturing and trade statistics, especially in North Carolina. In the twentieth century most of the tar produced was distilled to yield carbolic oil, naphtha, and other crude products, while pine wood tar was used in medicines and soap.

Bibliography

Kilmarx, Robert A., ed. America's Maritime Legacy: A History of the U.S. Merchant Marine and Shipbuilding Industry since Colonial Times. Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press, 1979.

Shephard, James F., and Walton, Gary M. Shipping, Maritime Trade, and the Economic Development of Colonial North America. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1972.

A dark-brown or black, viscid liquid obtained from various species of pine or from bituminous coal. See also wood tar derivatives.

• coal t. — see coal tar.
• coal t. pitch — see coal tar pitch.
• t. derivatives — include phenol (carbolic acid), cresols, creosote, all potent poisons. See also wood tar derivatives.
• hot t. — a cause of burns in dogs and cats, usually made more severe because it sticks to the skin.
• juniper t. — a volatile oil obtained from wood of Juniperus oxycedrus; used topically in the treatment of skin disease.
• pine t. — a product of destructive distillation of the wood of various pine trees; used as a rubefacient and treatment for skin disease.
• t. pitch — see coal tar pitch.
• Stockholm t. — see stockholm tar.

It has been suggested that Pine tar be merged into this article or section. (Discuss)

Tar can be produced from corn stalks by heating in a microwave. This process is known as pyrolysis.

Tar is a viscous black liquid derived from the destructive distillation of organic matter. Most tar is produced from coal as a byproduct of coke production, but it can also be produced from petroleum, peat or wood.

Types of tar

General

The word "tar" is used to describe several distinct substances. Naturally occurring "tar pits" (e.g. the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles) actually contain asphalt, not tar, and are more accurately known as asphalt pits. Tar sand deposits contain various mixtures of sand (or rock) with bitumen or heavy crude oil rather than tar, as does the Tar Tunnel in Shropshire. "Rangoon tar", also known as "Burmese Oil" or "Burmese Naphtha", is actually petroleum. "Tar" and "pitch (resin)" are sometimes used interchangeably; however, pitch is considered more solid while tar is more liquid.

Coal tar

In English and French, "tar" is a substance primarily derived from coal. It was formerly one of the products of a gasworks. Tar made from coal or petroleum is considered toxic and carcinogenic because of its high benzene content, however, coal tar in low concentrations is used as a topical medicine. Coal and petroleum tar has a pungent odor.

Wood tar

In Northern Europe, the word "tar" refers primarily to a substance derived from wood, which is used even as an additive in the flavoring of candy and other foods. Wood tar is microbicidial and has a pleasant odor.

The heating (dry distilling) of pine wood causes tar and pitch to drip away from the wood and leave behind charcoal. Birchbark is used to make particularly fine tar (tökötti). The by-products of wood tar are turpentine and charcoal. When deciduous tree woods are subjected to destructive distillation the by-products are methanol (wood alcohol) and charcoal.

Uses

Tar is used in treatment of the skin-disease psoriasis, where coal tar is the most effective. Tar is also a general disinfectant. Petroleum tar was also used in ancient Egyptian mummification circa 1000 BC.^[1]

Tar was a vital component of the first sealed, or "tarmac", roads. It was also used as seal for roofing shingles and to seal the hulls of ships and boats. For millennia wood tar was used to waterproof sails and boats, but today sails made from inherently waterproof synthetic substances have negated the need for tar. Wood tar is still used to seal traditional wooden boats and the roofs of historical shingle-roofed churches, as well painting exterior walls of log buildings.

In Finland wood tar was once considered a panacea reputed to heal "even those cut in twain through their midriff". A Finnish proverb states that if sauna, vodka and tar won't help, the disease is fatal. The use of wood tar in traditional Finnish medicine is because of its microbicidial properties.

Wood tar is also available diluted as tar water, which has numerous uses:

• As a flavoring for candies (e.g. Terva Leijona) and alcohol (Terva Viina)
• As a spice for food, like meat
• As a scent for saunas. Tar water is mixed into water that is turned to steam to the air
• As an anti-dandruff agent in shampoo
• As a component of cosmetics

Mixing tar with linseed oil varnish produces tar paint. Tar paint has a translucent brownish hue, and can be used to saturate and tone wood and protect it from weather. Tar paint can also be toned with various pigments, producing translucent colours and preserving the wood texture. Because of its paint-like properties, wet tar should not be touched with bare skin, as it can dry to produce a stain, though paint thinner is effective in removing it.

Coal tar is listed at number 1999 in the United Nations list of dangerous goods.

See also

• Bitumen
• Coal tar
• Pine tar
• Pitch (resin)
• Pitch drop experiment
• Tarring and feathering
• Tar Heels

Sources

• ^  Geotimes - February 2005 - Mummy tar in ancient Egypt. Retrieved on January 9, 2006.
• [2] - details history and uses of "Rangoon Tar".

Antipsoriatics (D05)
Topical: tars	Tar
Topical: antracens	Dithranol
Topical: psoralens	Trioxysalen - Methoxsalen
Topical: other	Fumaric acid - Calcipotriol - Calcitriol - Tacalcitol - Tazarotene
Systemic: psoralens	Trioxysalen - Methoxsalen - Bergapten
Systemic: retinoids	Etretinate - Acitretin

bat-smg:Smala

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Dansk (Danish)
1.
n. - tjære
v. tr. - tjære

idioms:

• tar and feather    dyppe i tjære og rulle i fjer
• tarred with the same brush    tjæret med samme kost (samme slags)

2.
n. - matros

Nederlands (Dutch)
teer, matroos, teren

Français (French)
1.
n. - (gén) goudron, bitume
v. tr. - goudronner

idioms:

• tar and feather    enduire de goudron et de plumes
• tarred with the same brush    (être) à mettre dans le même sac

2.
n. - matelot (arch)

Deutsch (German)
1.
n. - Teer
v. - teeren

idioms:

• tar and feather    teeren und federn
• tarred with the same brush    nicht besser, mit denselben Fehlern behaftet

2.
n. - Matrose

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - κατράμι, πίσσα, (καθομ.) ναυτικός, ναύτης
v. - επαλείφω με πίσσα, πισσώνω
adj. - από πίσσα

idioms:

• tar and feather    πίσσα και πούπουλα (τιμωρία στο Φαρ Ουέστ), διαπόμπευση
• tarred with the same brush    της ίδιας φάρας, του ιδίου φυράματος

Italiano (Italian)
incatramare, marinaio, catrame

idioms:

• tar and feather    linciare
• tarred with the same brush    avere gli stessi difetti

Português (Portuguese)
n. - alcatrão (m), piche (m), marinheiro (m) (coloq.)
v. - alcatroar, embrear
adj. - de alcatrão, alcatroado

idioms:

• tar and feather    cobrir (alguém) com alcatrão e penas (como castigo)
• tarred with the same brush    sofrendo os mesmos defeitos

Русский (Russian)
деготь, (разг.) матрос, моряк, (об)мазать дегтем

idioms:

• tar and feather    линч, линчевать
• tarred with the same brush    (неодобр.) "одного поля ягоды", "одним миром помазаны"

Español (Spanish)
1.
n. - alquitrán, brea
v. tr. - alquitranar, embrear

idioms:

• tar and feather    emplumar
• tarred with the same brush    cortados por la misma tijera

2.
n. - marinero

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - tjära, asfalt
v. - tjära, asfaltera
adj. - tjär-, tjärartad

中文（简体） (Chinese (Simplified))
1. 焦油, 柏油, 涂焦油于, 用焦油覆盖, 玷污, 污辱

idioms:

• tar and feather    严惩
• tarred with the same brush    有同样缺点, 是一路货色

2. 水手, 海员

中文（繁體） (Chinese (Traditional))
1.
n. - 水手, 海員

2.
n. - 焦油, 柏油
v. tr. - 塗焦油於, 用焦油覆蓋, 玷污, 污辱

idioms:

• tar and feather    嚴懲
• tarred with the same brush    有同樣缺點, 是一路貨色

한국어 (Korean)
1.
n. - 타르, 콜타르
v. tr. - ~에 타르를 칠하다, ~을 타르로 더럽히다

2.
n. - 선원, 뱃사람

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - タール
v. - タールを塗る

idioms:

• tar and feather    人を厳しく罰する

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) قطران, قار (فعل) يكسو بالقار أو ألقطران, يقطرن (صفه) ملوث بالقار أو ألقطران‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮זפת‬
v. tr. - ‮זיפת‬
n. - ‮ימאי‬

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