Meanings
tarre1
present singular third person tarres · participle present tarring · participle past tarred · past tarred
- obsoleteTo incite; to provoke; to spur on.
Nay, it perchance will sparkle in your eyes, / And like a dog that is compelled to fight, / Snatch at his master that doth tarre him on.
c. 1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Iohn”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i], lines 114-116
tarre2
- obsoleteObsolete form of tar.
[…] she takes not so much for curing a thousand mortal People, as I have spent in Turpentine and Tarre to keep my Flocklings cleanly in a Spring time.
1659, Richard Brome, The Queen and Concubine
Origin
- Old Englishtirġan, terġan, tirian“to worry, exasperate”
- Middle Englishtarien, taryen“to vex, harass, cause to hesitate, delay”
- Englishtarre
From Middle English tarien, taryen (“to vex, harass, cause to hesitate, delay”), from Old English tirġan, terġan, tirian (“to worry, exasperate”).
More words from Middle English, Old English
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with tarre
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
tarre. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tarre
“tarre.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tarre. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “tarre,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tarre.
Source: tarre on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.