All 4 Uses of
tartar
in
Moby Dick
- How I snuffed that Tartar air!†
Chpt 13-15 *
- The helmsman who steered by that tiller in a tempest, felt like the Tartar, when he holds back his fiery steed by clutching its jaw.†
Chpt 16-18
- those same woods harboring wild Afric beasts of prey, and silken creatures whose exported furs give robes to Tartar Emperors;†
Chpt 52-54
- He was a little frisky; though as yet his body seemed scarce yet recovered from that irksome position it had so lately occupied in the maternal reticule; where, tail to head, and all ready for the final spring, the unborn whale lies bent like a Tartar's bow.†
Chpt 85-87
Definitions:
-
(1)
(tartar as in: tartar on the teeth) calcified deposits on the teeth, formed by the continuous presence of dental plaque (also called calculous)
-
(2)
(meaning too common or rare to warrant focus) meaning too common or too rare to warrant focus:
Do not confuse this with the proper noun, Tartar, which references a central Asian people once known for their ferocity in battle.
The expression tartar sauce refers to a mayonnaise-based sauce commonly served with seafood and sometimes spelled tartare sauce. You may also see steak tartar in reference to a ground beef dish that is eaten raw; though the preferred spelling of the dish is steak tartare.
Much more rarely, tartar can reference anyone with a bad temper, or it can reference a reddish crust or sediment in wine casks.