<B>tapstress, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Archaic.) a barmaid. </DL>
<A NAME="taptap">
<B>tap-tap, </B>noun, verb, <B>-tapped,</B> <B>-tapping.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> a repeated tap; series of taps. <BR> <I>Ex. Mr. Tressle's man ... ceased his tap-tap upon the coffin (Thackeray).</I> <DD><I>v.i. </I> to make tapping sounds or movements. </DL>
<A NAME="tapuya">
<B>Tapuya, </B>noun, pl. <B>-ya.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a member of a primitive group of tribes, once numerous throughout Central South America but now found only in the remote regions of Brazil. <DD><B> 2. </B>any speaker of Tapuyan. </DL>
<A NAME="tapuyan">
<B>Tapuyan, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a family of American Indian languages formerly widely spoken in central Brazil. <DD><B> 2. </B><B>=Tapuya.</B> <DD><I>adj. </I> of or having to do with the Tapuya or with the Tapuyan family of languages. </DL>
<A NAME="tapwater">
<B>tap water,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> water from a pipe. </DL>
<A NAME="tar">
<B>tar</B> (1), noun, verb, <B>tarred,</B> <B>tarring,</B> adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a dark-brown or black, sticky substance obtained by distillation, especially of wood or coal. Tar is used to cover and patch roads and to keep telephone poles and other timber from rotting. <DD><B> 2. </B>a brownish-black substance produced by the burning of tobacco. <BR> <I>Ex. cigarette tar.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>a pitch distilled from coal tar. <DD><I>adj. </I> of, like, or covered with tar. <DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to cover or smear with tar; soak in tar. Tarred paper is used on sheds to keep out water. <BR> <I>Ex. The street in front of our house is tarred.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) to dirty as with tar; soil; smear. <BR> <I>Ex. If it [the policy] goes badly, people who now approve of the policy will be tarred as warmongers (New York Times).</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>beat</B> (or <B>knock,</B> <B>whip,</B> or <B>whale</B>) <B>the tar out of,</B> </I>(Informal.) to beat unmercifully. <BR> <I>Ex. If he was sore at me for something, he'd save up ... , then beat the tar out of me (New Yorker).</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>tar and feather,</B> </I>to pour heated tar on and cover with feathers as a punishment. <BR> <I>Ex. If I escape from town without being tarred and feathered, I shall consider it good luck (Hawthorne).</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>tarred with the same brush</B> (or <B>stick</B>), </I>having similar faults or defects. <BR> <I>Ex. They are all tarred with the same stick, rank Jacobites and Papists (Scott).</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>tar with</B> (a specified) <B>brush,</B> </I>to disgrace in some way; stigmatize. <BR> <I>Ex. [He] intends to tar his opponent with the Tory brush (London Times).</I> noun <B>tarrer.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="tar">
<B>tar</B> (2), noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a sailor or seaman; Jack tar. </DL>
<A NAME="tar">
<B>tar</B> (3), transitive verb, <B>tarred,</B> <B>tarring.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> to incite; provoke; hound (on). <BR> <I>Ex. The cries, the squealings of children, ... tarring them on, as the rabble does when dogs fight (Carlyle).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="taradiddle">
<B>taradiddle, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Especially British Informal.) <DD><B> 1. </B>a trifling falsehood; petty lie; fib. <BR> <I>Ex. Everybody told us it would be very cold, and as usual, everybody told taradiddles (Thomas H. Huxley).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>something of little importance or consequence. Also, <B>tarradiddle.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="tarahumara">
<B>Tarahumara, </B>noun, pl. <B>-ras</B> or <B>-ra.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a member of an American Indian people living in Chihuahua and adjacent parts of northern Mexico. <DD><B> 2. </B>the Uto-Aztecan language of this people. </DL>
<A NAME="taramasalata">
<B>taramasalata, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a Greek appetizer consisting of a creamy paste of salted fish roe mixed with bread or potato and seasoned with lemon juice. </DL>
<A NAME="tarantara">
<B>tarantara, </B>noun. <B>=tantara.</B></DL>
<A NAME="tarantass">
<B>tarantass</B> or <B>tarantas, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a large, four-wheeled carriage on long, flexible wooden bars with no springs, used in Russia in the 1800's. </DL>
<A NAME="tarantella">
<B>tarantella, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a rapid whirling, southern Italian folk dance in very quick rhythm, usually performed by a single couple. It was once a supposed cure for tarantism. <BR> <I>Ex. Williams' screenplay, like his drama, revolves with the frantic formlessness of a tarantella (Newsweek).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a ballroom dance based on it. <DD><B> 3. </B>music for either of these dances. <DD><B> 4. </B>any music in this rhythm. </DL>
<A NAME="tarantism">
<B>tarantism, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a nervous disorder characterized by an extreme impulse to dance, epidemic in southern Italy from the 1400's to the 1600's and popularly attributed to the bite of the tarantula; dancing mania. </DL>
<A NAME="tarantula">
<B>tarantula, </B>noun, pl. <B>-las,</B> <B>-lae.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a large, hairy spider of southern Europe, whose slightly poisonous bite was once imagined to cause an insane desire to dance. <BR> <I>Ex. The tarantula's powerful body is covered with long hairs that transmit a delicate sense of touch (Science News Letter).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>any one of a family of large, hairy spiders with a painful but not serious bite, found in the southwestern United States and South and Central America. <BR> <I>Ex. A typical southwestern U.S. tarantula has a body about two inches long and a leg span of about six inches (Science News Letter).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="tarascan">
<B>Tarascan, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a member of a tribe of Indians living in Mexico. <DD><B> 2. </B>their language. <DD><I>adj. </I> of or having to do with the Tarascans or their language. </DL>
<A NAME="tarata">
<B>tarata, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> an evergreen tree of New Zealand with fragrant yellow flowers; lemonwood. </DL>
<A NAME="taraxacum">
<B>taraxacum, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>any one of a group of composite herbs, such as the dandelion. <DD><B> 2. </B>dried dandelion roots, used as a tonic, laxative, and diuretic. </DL>
<A NAME="taraxein">
<B>taraxein, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a protein substance extracted from the blood serum of schizophrenic persons. <BR> <I>Ex. Taraxein ... causes symptoms similar to schizophrenia when injected into normal volunteers (Time).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="tarboard">
<B>tarboard, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> a strong millboard made especially of tarred rope. <DD><I>adj. </I> made of this. </DL>
<A NAME="tarboosh">
<B>tarboosh, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a cloth or felt brimless cap, usually red and with a tassel on top, worn by Moslem men, sometimes inside a turban. Also, <B>tarbush.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="tarboy">
<B>tarboy, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Australian.) a boy who dabs tar on sheep cut during shearing. </DL>
<A NAME="tarbush">
<B>tarbush</B> (1), noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S.) any of a group of California shrubs of the waterleaf family. </DL>
<A NAME="tarbush">
<B>tarbush</B> (2), noun. <B>=tarboosh.</B></DL>
<A NAME="tardenoisian">
<B>Tardenoisian, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of or having to do with a mesolithic culture, remains of which were first discovered in Tardenois, France. </DL>
<A NAME="tardigrade">
<B>tardigrade, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>moving or walking slowly. <DD><B> 2. </B>of or having to do with a class or subclass of very small arthropods with little-developed circulatory and respiratory systems and four pairs of short legs, either marine or inhabiting damp places, often found as slime on ponds. <DD><I>noun </I> any tardigrade animal. </DL>
<A NAME="tardily">
<B>tardily, </B>adverb.<DL COMPACT><DD> slowly; late; with delay. <BR> <I>Ex. The night rolled tardily away (William Cowper).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="tardiness">
<B>tardiness, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the quality of being tardy; slowness of action; lateness. <BR> <I>Ex. A tardiness in nature, Which often leaves the history unspoke That it intends to do (Shakespeare).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="tardive">
<B>tardive, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> late in appearance or development; tardy. </DL>
<A NAME="tardivedyskinesia">
<B>tardive dyskinesia,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a nervous disorder characterized by uncontrollable twitching of muscles, especially facial muscles, occurring after prolonged therapy using antipsychotic drugs. </DL>
<A NAME="tardo">
<B>tardo, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Music.) slow (used as a direction). </DL>
<A NAME="tardy">
<B>tardy, </B>adjective, <B>-dier,</B> <B>-diest,</B> adverb.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>behind time; late. (SYN) behindhand. <DD><B> 2. </B>late for a meeting, school, or appointment; unpunctual. <DD><B> 3. </B>taking rather long to make little progress; slow in motion or action; sluggish. <BR> <I>Ex. The old bus was tardier than ever.</I> (SYN) dilatory. <DD><B> 4. </B>delaying; reluctant. <DD><I>adv. </I> <B>come tardy off.</B> See under <B>come.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="tare">
<B>tare</B> (1), noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>any one of various fodder plants, especially a common species with light-purplish flowers; vetch. <DD><B> 2. </B>a vetch seed, often a symbol of smallness. <DD><B> 3. </B>an injurious weed, possibly the darnel (in the Bible, Matthew 13:24-30). <BR> <I>Ex. Tares killed the wheat.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="tare">
<B>tare</B> (2), noun, verb, <B>tared,</B> <B>taring.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a deduction made from the gross weight of goods to allow for the weight of the wrapper, box, container, or vehicle they are in. <DD><B> 2. </B>the weight deducted. <DD><B> 3. </B>the weight of any empty motor vehicle, without passengers, load, or fuel. <DD><B> 4. </B>(Chemistry.) <DD><B> a. </B>the weight of a vessel, subtracted from its weight with a substance in it, to determine the weight of the substance. <DD><B> b. </B>a counterweight to the vessel. <DD><I>v.t. </I> to mark or allow for the tare of. </DL>
