Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A viscous black liquid containing numerous organic compounds that is obtained by the destructive distillation of coal and used as a roofing, waterproofing, and insulating compound and as a raw material for many dyes, drugs, and paints.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A thick, black, viscid, opaque liquid which condenses in the pipes when gas is distilled from coal. It is a mixture of many different liquid and solid substances, and the separation of these into useful products is now an important branch of manufacturing chemistry. Among these products may be named paraffin, naphtha, benzol, creasote, anthracene, carbolic acid, naphthaline, pitch, etc. The basic oil of coal-tar is the most abundant source of the beautiful aniline colors, their various hues being due to the oxidation of aniline by means of acids, etc. (See
aniline .) Coal-tar is made into asphalt for pavements, and with coal-dust forms by pressure an excellent artificial fuel. It is largely used, by itself and combined with other substances, to form preservative compositions for coating wood and metal. Also calledgas-tar .
Wiktionary
- n. A black, viscous tar made by the destructive distillation of coal (to make coke and town gas); it contains a great number of compounds including hydrocarbons and phenols; used in the preparation of medicated soap and shampoo, and industrially for the manufacture of very many products.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. See in the Vocabulary.
- A thick, black, tarry liquid, obtained by the distillation of bituminous coal in the manufacture of illuminating gas; used for making printer's ink, black varnish, etc. It is a complex mixture from which many substances have been obtained, especially hydrocarbons of the benzene or aromatic series.
- n. See in the Vocabulary.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a tar formed from distillation of bituminous coal; coal tar can be further distilled to give various aromatic compounds
Examples
“Some coal tar colors FD&C or D&C dyes used in hair color, makeup, and skin care products that have been tested were shown to cause cancer when injected into the skin of rodents, and yet most have never been adequately tested for safety in cosmetic use.”
“There are now beautiful, highly saturated, and finely textured eyeshadows, ultra-hip glosses, and smudgy pencils in must-have colors, minus the petrochemicals, perfumes, preservatives, and coal tar dyes.”
“Knowing the safety and sensitivity concerns of coal tar colors, the irritating nature of perfumes, the dangers of talc inhalation, and the pore-clogging tendencies of mineral oil, I was frustrated with the lack of sophistication and appeal when it came to natural-color cosmetics.”
“Claude was well aware of the previous importance to the perfume industry of ambergris, a substance secreted by temporarily infirm whales, but he was convinced that petrochemical and coal tar fixatives were completely adequate substitutes.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘coal tar’.
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Old Pharmacy, etc.
This is not an Aubrey/Maturin list.
This is not an Aubrey/Maturin list.
This is not an Aubrey/Maturin list.
There. I think I've convinced myself.
(Of course...asafetida, Cinchona, Peruvian bark, Jesuit's bark, mithridate, aqua, bark, lard, electuary, gentian, diatessaron, myrrh and 110 more...
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Tar
I'll accept any words or phrases with "tar" in them, but I'm especially interested in words that could lead to a joke based on the different meanings of tar and pitch.
tar, guitar, sitar, dutar, dotara, tar and feather, coal tar, tarred with the s..., wood-tar, jacktar, La Brea Tar Pits, Carpinteria Tar Pits and 26 more...
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Did Someone Say a Dinner Party?
It's a hazardous world out there...poison all around. I've tried not to include too many drugs (including medicines) and have ignored the fact that too much of anything can poison you. We're going ...
cyanide, botulinum, chlorine, mustard gas, hydrogen cyanide gas, mercury, arsenic, ricin, strychnine, aconite, acetic acid, acetone and 147 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for coal tar.
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