# tar

/ˈtɑɹ/ (US) · /tˈɑː/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/tar
Updated: 2026-08-08

## Senses

### 1. sticky substance

noun · CEFR B2

a thick, black, sticky substance made from coal or wood, often used to make roads.

For teachers: a dark, viscous, and sticky substance consisting of hydrocarbons, derived from the destructive distillation of organic materials like coal or wood.

- The workers poured hot tar onto the road to fill the cracks.
- The smell of boiling tar permeated the neighborhood as the roofing crew began sealing the industrial warehouse.

### 2. computing utility

noun · CEFR C1 · Technical

a computer program used on Linux or Unix to collect many files into one single file.

For teachers: a computer utility and file format used for collecting many files into one archive file, often for distribution or backup.

- You can use tar to group all your project files before sending them.
- The administrator used a tar command to bundle the log files before compressing them for long-term storage.

### 3. musical instrument

noun · CEFR C2 · Technical

a traditional string instrument with a long neck, popular in Iran and nearby countries.

For teachers: a long-necked, waisted lute found in Iran, Azerbaijan, and other parts of the Caucasus and Middle East.

- The musician played a beautiful melody on the tar during the concert.
- The tar is central to Persian classical music, known for its distinct double-bowl body covered with thin lambskin.

### 4. to cover with tar

verb · CEFR B2

to cover a surface with tar.

For teachers: to coat or treat a surface with tar for sealing or protection.

- They need to tar the driveway before the winter starts.
- The shipwrights worked through the afternoon to tar the hull, ensuring the vessel remained watertight for the upcoming voyage.

### 5. to damage a reputation

verb · CEFR C1 · Literary

to make someone look bad by connecting them to something negative.

For teachers: to besmirch or damage a reputation by association; often used in the idiom 'tarred with the same brush'.

- It is unfair to tar the whole group because of one person's mistake.
- The scandal threatened to tar the entire administration, regardless of whether individual members were directly involved in the fraud.

## Examples

- I need to extract the files from the tar archive.
- The developer sent the entire source code as a tar file to ensure all folder structures remained intact.
- While tar files do not provide native compression, they are frequently paired with utilities like gzip to create compressed archives for efficient data transfer across networks.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.