tar pit
noun
: an area in which natural bitumens collect and are exposed at the earth's surface and which tends to trap animals and preserve their hard parts (such as bones or teeth)
Examples of tar pit in a Sentence
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The board on Thursday also released new renderings of the campuses planned transformation, which includes a pedestrian loop connecting excavation sites, research laboratories and museum spaces as well as updated Pleistocene gardens — which will include the tar pits’ iconic mammoths.
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Malia Mendez, Los Angeles Times, 22 Jan. 2026
However, the cake is far too stout, takes too long to bake, and comes out looking like a tar pit that a triceratops would be preserved in.
—Brian Moylan, Vulture, 26 Sep. 2025
The closest relatives of these mystery organisms are typically found in German tar pits and oil wells.
—Popular Science Team, Popular Science, 13 Aug. 2025
These unlucky birds in Arizona had stumbled into what’s commonly called a tar pit.
—Ian Rose, JSTOR Daily, 23 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for tar pit
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Malia Mendez, Los Angeles Times, 22 Jan. 2026
However, the cake is far too stout, takes too long to bake, and comes out looking like a tar pit that a triceratops would be preserved in.
—Brian Moylan, Vulture, 26 Sep. 2025
The closest relatives of these mystery organisms are typically found in German tar pits and oil wells.
—Popular Science Team, Popular Science, 13 Aug. 2025
These unlucky birds in Arizona had stumbled into what’s commonly called a tar pit.
—Ian Rose, JSTOR Daily, 23 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for tar pit
Cite this Entry
“Tar pit.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tar%20pit. Accessed 5 Mar. 2026.
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