Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of Tartar?

\Tar"tar\, n. [F. tartre (cf. Pr. tartari, Sp., Pg., & It. tartaro, LL. tartarum, LGr. ?); perhaps of Arabic origin.] 1. (Chem.) A reddish crust or sediment in wine casks, consisting essentially of crude cream of tartar, and used in marking pure cream of tartar, tartaric acid, potassium carbonate, black flux, etc., and, in dyeing, as a mordant for woolen goods; -- called also {argol}, {wine stone}, etc. 2. A correction which often incrusts the teeth, consisting of salivary mucus, animal matter, and phosphate of lime. {Cream of tartar}. (Chem.) See under {Cream}. {Tartar emetic} (Med. Chem.), a double tartrate of potassium and basic antimony. It is a poisonous white crystalline substance having a sweetish metallic taste, and used in medicine as a sudorific and emetic.
\Tar"tar\, n. 1. [Per. T[=a]t[=a]r, of Tartar origin.] A native or inhabitant of Tartary in Asia; a member of any one of numerous tribes, chiefly Moslem, of Turkish origin, inhabiting the Russian Europe; -- written also, more correctly but less usually, {Tatar}. 2. A person of a keen, irritable temper. {To catch a tartar}, to lay hold of, or encounter, a person who proves too strong for the assailant. [Colloq.]
\Tar"tar\, a. Of or pertaining to Tartary in Asia, or the Tartars.
\Tar"tar\, n. [Cf. F. tartare.] See {Tartarus}. --Shak.