tarten

present singular third person tartens · participle present tartening · participle past tartened · past tartened

1. transitiveTo make tart or bitter

   These faults in a scholar tend to tarten the writing, to enliven the reader.

   1956, Library Journal, volume 81, page 2257

   2 more examples

   I loved their shouts of welcome as I trudged across the fields carrying the heavy jug. Mama mixed the old time drink from cold well water, a pinch of ginger, molasses and some vinegar to tarten it.

   1964, Long Island Forum, volumes 27-29, page 169

   He knew precisely when to spice the orchestration with percussive pepper, when to add a pinch more of sugar, when to tarten the mixture with a squeeze or two of lime.

   1991, The Lyric Opera companion, The History, Lore, and Stories of the World's Greatest Operas

2. intransitiveTo become tart or bitter

   […] her sweetness tartened as one side of her clutched loyalty, the other love.

   1928, The Second American Caravan: A Yearbook of American Literature