tartar
tartar Lexical Profile
tartar Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A hard, calcified yellowish or brownish deposit that forms on the teeth when dental plaque mineralizes and hardens over time.
"Regular brushing and flossing help prevent plaque from hardening into stubborn tartar along the gumline."
A reddish or whitish crystalline crust (chiefly potassium bitartrate) deposited on the inside of casks during the fermentation of wine, used to make cream of tartar.
"During the aging process, layers of crude tartar gradually crystallized along the oak walls of the wine barrels."
A fierce, violent, irritable, or intractable person who proves unexpectedly difficult to deal with (often capitalized).
"The new manager turned out to be a real tartar whenever deadlines were missed."
Word Nuance & Usage
Do not confuse 'tartar' (dental calculus or the ingredient in tartar sauce) with 'tartare' (raw meat or fish finely chopped and seasoned, as in steak tartare).
• Rhymes for tartar
Word Origin & Etymology
In its chemical and dental senses, the word derives from Middle English via Old French 'tartre' and Medieval Latin 'tartarum', probably of Arabic or Byzantine Greek origin. The sense referring to a fierce or irritable person comes from the historical ethnonym 'Tartar' (an older variant of Tatar), altered in Medieval Latin by association with 'Tartarus', the classical underworld.