Adjacent Words

Tart definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

T`ART, a.
1. Acid; sharp to the taste; acidulous; as a tart apple.
2. Sharp; keen; severe; as a tart reply; tart language; a tart rebuke.
T`ART, n. [L. tortus, twisted; and this may be the primary sense of tar, acid, sharp, and hence this noun, something acid or made of acid fruit.] A species of pie or pastry, consisting of fruit baked on paste.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: tasting sour like a lemon [syn: lemony, lemonlike, sourish, tangy, tart]
2: harsh; "sharp criticism"; "a sharp-worded exchange"; "a tart remark" [syn: sharp, sharp-worded, tart] n
1: a woman who engages in sexual intercourse for money [syn: prostitute, cocotte, whore, harlot, bawd, tart, cyprian, fancy woman, working girl, sporting lady, lady of pleasure, woman of the street]
2: a small open pie with a fruit filling
3: a pastry cup with a filling of fruit or custard and no top crust

Merriam Webster's

I. adjective Etymology: Middle English, from Old English teart sharp, severe; akin to Middle High German traz spite Date: before 12th century 1. agreeably sharp or acid to the taste <a tart apple> 2. marked by a biting, acrimonious, or cutting quality <a tart rejoinder> • tartish adjective • tartly adverb • tartness noun II. noun Etymology: Middle English tarte, from Anglo-French Date: 14th century 1. a dish baked in a pastry shell ; pie: as a. a small pie or pastry shell without a top containing jelly, custard, or fruit b. a small pie made of pastry folded over a filling 2. [earlier slang, girlfriend, probably short for jam tart, rhyming slang for sweetheart] prostitute

Oxford Reference Dictionary

1. n. 1 an open pastry case containing jam etc. 2 esp. Brit. a pie with a fruit or sweet filling. Derivatives: tartlet n. Etymology: ME f. OF tarte = med.L tarta, of unkn. orig. 2. n. & v. --n. sl. 1 a prostitute; a promiscuous woman. 2 sl. offens. a girl or woman. --v. (foll. by up) esp. Brit. colloq. 1 tr. (usu. refl.) smarten (oneself or a thing) up, esp. flashily or gaudily. 2 intr. dress up gaudily. Etymology: prob. abbr. of SWEETHEART 3. adj. 1 sharp or acid in taste. 2 (of a remark etc.) cutting, bitter. Derivatives: tartly adv. tartness n. Etymology: OE teart, of unkn. orig.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Tart Tart, n. [OE. tarte, F. tarte; perhaps originally the same word as tourte, LL. torta, fr. L. tortus, p. p. of torquere to twist, bend, wind, because tarts were originally made of a twisted shape. Cf. Torture, n.] A species of small open pie, or piece of pastry, containing jelly or conserve; a sort of fruit pie.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Tart Tart, a. [AS. teart. [root]63. Cf. Tear, v. t.] 1. Sharp to the taste; acid; sour; as, a tart apple. 2. Fig.: Sharp; keen; severe; as, a tart reply; tart language; a tart rebuke. Why art thou tart, my brother? --Bunyan.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(tarts, tarting, tarted) 1. A tart is a shallow pastry case with a filling of food, especially sweet food. ...jam tarts. ...a slice of home-made tart. N-VAR 2. If something such as fruit is tart, it has a sharp taste. The blackberries were a bit too tart on their own, so we stewed them gently with some apples. = sharp ADJ 3. A tart remark or way of speaking is sharp and unpleasant, often in a way that is rather cruel. The words were more tart than she had intended... = acid ADJ • tartly 'There are other patients on the ward, Lovell,' the staff nurse reminded her tartly. ADV: usu ADV with v 4. If someone refers to a woman or girl as a tart, they are criticizing her because they think she is sexually immoral or dresses in a way that makes her look sexually immoral. (INFORMAL, OFFENSIVE) N-COUNT [disapproval]

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. 1. Sour, acid, acidulous, sharp. 2. Severe, harsh, caustic, crabbed, sharp snappish, testy, snarling, petulant, acrimonious, ill-tempered, ill-humored, keen.

1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue

Sour, sharp, quick, pert.

Moby Thesaurus

Danish pastry, French pastry, Jezebel, abusive, acerb, acerbate, acerbic, acescent, acetose, acetous, acid, acidic, acidulated, acidulent, acidulous, acrid, acrimonious, amaroidal, astringent, bad woman, baggage, baklava, barbed, bimbo, bitch, biting, bitter, bitter as gall, blintz, broad, caustic, chippy, chocolate eclair, clitoromaniac, coarse, cocotte, corroding, corrosive, courtesan, crab, crabbed, cream puff, crusty, cutting, cynical, double-edged, dowdy, doxy, drab, dry, easy lay, easy woman, eclair, edged, escharotic, fallen woman, fierce, fille de joie, flan, floozy, frail sister, green, grisette, hard, harlot, harridan, harsh, hooker, hussy, hysteromaniac, incisive, jade, keen, loose woman, mordacious, mordant, nasty, nymph, nymphet, nympho, nymphomaniac, pandowdy, pastry, pasty, patisserie, patty, patty-shell, penetrating, pickled, pickup, pie, piercing, piquant, poignant, prostitute, puff, pungent, quean, quiche, rigorous, rosette, rough, sarcastic, sardonic, satirical, scathing, scorching, sec, severe, sharp, slut, sour, sour as vinegar, soured, sourish, stabbing, stinging, streetwalker, strident, stringent, strudel, strumpet, tangy, tartish, testy, timbale, tipsy cake, trenchant, trifle, trollop, trull, turnover, unripe, unsweet, unsweetened, uteromaniac, vehement, vicious, vinegarish, vinegary, violent, virulent, vitriolic, vol-au-vent, wanton, wench, whore, withering, working girl