tartar

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“
Just as all the tartar is eliminated from the surface, the face and the lips are covered so as to forestall any contact with the ultraviolet lights that will be passed through the teeth.

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Definitions (19)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (2)

  1. noun Dentistry A hard yellowish deposit on the teeth, consisting of organic secretions and food particles deposited in various salts, such as calcium carbonate. Also called calculus.
  2. noun A reddish acid compound, chiefly potassium bitartrate, found in the juice of grapes and deposited on the sides of casks during winemaking.

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Examples (50)

  • With the addition of cream of tartar, a stainless steel or glass bowl works just as well, is much less expensive and avoids excess copper in the diet. —  The News Tribune - Tacoma - Homepage
  • Just as all the tartar is eliminated from the surface, the face and the lips are covered so as to forestall any contact with the ultraviolet lights that will be passed through the teeth. —  Find Free Articles - ArticlesBase
  • I got the calamari which were excellent but tracy's shrimp were to die for. the tartar is also really good ... better than the aoili that usually gets the attention. —  teesha's circus
  • Egg whites needed to be whisked up until they had stiff peaks for the next portion of the recipe - to help stabilize them as they work, a pinch of salt and a little cream of tartar are added as they begin to whip. —  Culinary in the Desert
  • Said he: "All I know is that she is a regular tartar, and no mistake! —  The Expressman and the Detective
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Etymologies (3)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English tartre, potassium bitartrate, from Old French, from Medieval Latin tartarum, argol, from Medieval Greek tartaron.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. from Old French (also F.) tartre = Provencal tartari = Spanish tártaro = Portuguese Italian tartaro, from Middle Latin tartarum, Middle Greek τάρταρον, tartar incrusting the sides of casks; apparently so called for some fanciful reason, from Latin Tartarus, Greek Tάρταρος, Tartarus: see Tartarus. The reason given by Paracelsus, “because it produces oil, water, tincture, and salt, which burn the patient as Tartarus does,” is evidently imagined; but the word was no doubt connected with L. Tartarus in some vague way. It is said to be of Arabic origin, but it could not come, except by very unusual corruption, from the Arabic word given as its source, viz. Arabic (and Persian) durd, dregs, sediment, the tartar of wine, the mother of oil; cf. Arabic durdīy, Persian durdī, dregs, sediment; Arabic darad, a shedding of the teeth, darda, a toothless woman—referring, according to Devic, to the tartar on teeth.
  2. from tartar, n.
 

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/ˈtɑrtər/
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