tar

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
tar1

▶noun a dark, thick flammable liquid distilled from wood or coal, used in road-making and for coating and preserving timber.

■ a similar substance formed by burning tobacco or other material.

▶verb (tars, tarring, tarred) (usu. as adj. tarred) cover with tar.

– phrases
beat (or whale) the tar out of N. Amer. informal beat or thrash severely.
tar and feather smear with tar and then cover with feathers as a punishment.
tar people with the same brush consider specified people to have the same faults.

– origin OE teru, teoru, of Gmc origin.

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
tar2

▶noun informal, dated a sailor.

– origin C17: perh. an abbrev. of tarpaulin, used as a nickname for a sailor at this time.