tar out

verb

To punish; to pay back or take revenge on.

Similar
castigatepenalizeget back atretaliateamercechastenchastisecome down on
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Meanings

verbtar out (third-person singular simple present tars out, present participle tarring out, simple past and past participle tarred out)

present singular third person tars out · participle present tarring out · participle past tarred out · past tarred out

  1. datedslangtransitiveTo punish; to pay back or take revenge on.

    We had him stopped the year before, the time we whupped him at Stone's River at the end of Sixty-two: we tarred him out so bad he had to wait.

    1937, Thomas Wolfe, Chickamauga

    Synonyms: castigate, penalize, get back at, retaliate, amerce, castigate, chasten, chastise

Synonyms & antonyms

verbTo punish; to pay back or take revenge on.

Similar
castigatepenalizeget back atretaliateamercecastigatechastenchastisecome down oncorrectfix someone's wagonhave someone's guts for gartershave someone's headhave someone's hidegive it to someonegive someone what forgive what forgruelmalavoguenail someone to the wall
Also see
avengeget one's own backpunishrequite
Cite this entry
APA

tar out. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tar%20out

MLA

“tar out.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tar%20out. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “tar out,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tar%20out.

Source: tar out on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.