tar water

noun

A cold infusion of tar in water, once used as a medicine for chest complaints.

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Meanings

nountar water (countable and uncountable, plural tar waters)

plural tar waters · alternative tar-water

  1. countablehistoricaluncountableA cold infusion of tar in water, once used as a medicine for chest complaints.

    Some medical beast had revived Tar-water in those days as a fine medicine, and Mrs. Joe always kept a supply of it in the cupboard; having a belief in its virtues correspondent to its nastiness.

    1860 December – 1861 August, Charles Dickens, chapter II, in Great Expectations […], volume I, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published October 1861, →OCLC, page 22

Translations

Finnish tervavesi
  • tervavesiinfusion of tar in water
Turkish katran suyu
  • katran suyuinfusion of tar in water
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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