pine tar

noun

: tar obtained by destructive distillation of pinewood and used especially in roofing and soaps and in the treatment of skin diseases

Examples of pine tar in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web That bat now resides in the National Baseball Hall of Fame, but one owned by Thornhill has what the collector believes to be the grooves of the Kansas City Royals player’s fingers preserved in pine tar on the grip. Christina Binkley, Robb Report, 30 July 2023 Tim McClelland took a home run away from the Royals’ batting star George Brett, after the Yankees protested that his bat was smeared with an impermissible amount of pine tar, a substance used to help a batter’s grip, Perry popped out of the Royals’ dugout. Richard Goldstein, New York Times, 1 Dec. 2022 Now my whole pants had pine tar on it. Bobby Nightengale, The Enquirer, 20 July 2021 As far as foreign substances go, Spider Tack is like pine tar on steroids. Andrew Beaton, WSJ, 11 June 2021 Oakum, a material made of hemp soaked in pine tar and oil that is embedded between the long ship planks, is ripped out in a process called reefing. Amy Davis, Baltimore Sun, 20 Dec. 2022 His ensuing two seasons here were filled with loud ovations and endless pine tar splotches and so many more autographed baseballs. Los Angeles Times, 19 Dec. 2022 With ball marks, stitching impressions, rack marks, grain swelling and pine tar residue, this Louisville Slugger bat (Model No. R43) is part of his story. The Courier-Journal, 9 Nov. 2022 After the shingles came the pine tar, applied in gloppy brush loads. Scott Frances, WSJ, 23 Apr. 2022

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'pine tar.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1855, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of pine tar was in 1855

Dictionary Entries Near pine tar

Cite this Entry

“Pine tar.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pine%20tar. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

pine tar

noun
: tar obtained from pinewood and used especially in roofing and soaps and in the treatment of skin diseases

Medical Definition

pine tar

noun
: tar obtained from the wood of pine trees (genus Pinus and especially P. palustris) and used in soaps and in the treatment of skin diseases
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