TAN • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Tan

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noun

Tan n. See Picul.

Tan n.

1.

The bark of the oak, and some other trees, bruised and broken by a mill, for tanning hides; so called both before and after it has been used. Called also tan bark.

2.

A yellowish-brown color, like that of tan.

3.

A brown color imparted to the skin by exposure to the sun; as, hands covered with tan.

Tan bed (Hort.), a bed made of tan; a bark bed.

Tan pickle, the liquor used in tanning leather.

Tan spud, a spud used in stripping bark for tan from trees.

Tan stove. See Bark stove, under Bark.

Tan vat, a vat in which hides are steeped in liquor with tan.

verb

Tan v. t. (past & past part. tanned; pres. part. tanning)

1.

To convert (the skin of an animal) into leather, as by the usual process of steeping it in an infusion of oak or some other bark, whereby it is impregnated with tannin, or tannic acid (which exists in several species of bark), and is thus rendered firm, durable, and in some degree impervious to water. Note: The essential result in tanning is due to the fact that the tannins form, with gelatins and albuminoids, a series of insoluble compounds which constitute leather. Similar results may be produced by the use of other reagents in place of tannin, as alum, and some acids or chlorides, which are employed in certain processes of tanning.

2.

To make brown; to imbrown, as by exposure to the rays of the sun; as, to tan the skin.

3.

To thrash or beat; to flog; to switch; as, to tan a disobedient child's hide. (Colloq.)

Tan v. i. To get or become tanned.

adjective

Tan adj. (compar. tanner; superl. tannest) Of the color of tan; yellowish-brown.

Black and tan. See under Black, a.

See images of 'Tan'

Etymology of 'Tan'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Tan" Quotes from Famous Books

... spins the largest cocoon I ever have seen, and it varies its work more than any of the others. Lengthwise of a slender twig it spins a long, slim cocoon; on a board or wall, roomier and wider at the bottom, and inside hollow trees, and under bridges, big baggy quarters of exquisite reddish tan colours that do not fade as do those exposed to the weather. The typical cocoon of the species is that spun on a fence or outbuilding, not the slender work on the alders or the elaborate quarters of the bridge. On a board the process is to cover the ...

— Moths of the Limberlost • Gene Stratton-Porter

... little black-coated King Charles erected itself on its hind legs, displaying its rich ruddy tan waistcoat and sleeves, and beseeching with its black diamond eyes for the biscuit, dropped and caught in mid-air. It was the first time Leonard ...

— The Trial - or, More Links of the Daisy Chain • Charlotte M. Yonge

... leaning back. He looked exhausted; every line of his face drooped. In spite of his tan, it was pale, with hollows under the eyes. It was extraordinary that a few hours should make such a change, she thought, and held ...

— The Nest Builder • Beatrice Forbes-Robertson Hale

... me. Had eight children right along in a string 'thout stoppin', done all her own work, never kep' no gal nor nothin'; allers up and dressed; allers to meetin' Sunday, and to the prayer-meetin' weekly, and never stops workin': when 'tan't one thing it's another—cookin', washin', ironin', making butter and cheese, and 'tween spells cuttin' and sewin', and if she ain't doin' that, why, she's braidin' straw to sell to the store or knitting—she's the perpetual motion ready ...

— Betty's Bright Idea; Deacon Pitkin's Farm; and The First Christmas - of New England • Harriet Beecher Stowe

... fingers crooked with holding fast what they had earned. Faces almost of the Yankee type, many of them, but relieved by the twinkling of a humorous faculty or the wild gleam of imagination. The shaggy little horses, of a dun or dull tan-color, seemed to understand that their best performance was required, and rushed up and down the road with an amazing exhibition of mettle. I could understand nothing of the Finnish tongue except its music; but it was easy to perceive that ...

— The Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 13, No. 79, May, 1864 • Various

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