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Definition of pine tar
: tar obtained by destructive distillation of pinewood and used especially in roofing and soaps and in the treatment of skin diseases
Examples of pine tar in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web Wonder what George Brett thinks about the pine tar on Manny Machado’s bat, which is visible from Everest.
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San Diego Union-Tribune, "Column: Nothing easy for Chargers, but tea leaves say ‘not good enough’," 14 Sep. 2019 Carlos Santana uses so much pine tar on his bat that a glob of the sticky stuff often winds up on his shoulder.
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Scott Lauber, Philly.com, "Nationals series shows why Phillies can't stand pat before trade deadline | Extra Innings," 25 June 2018 Pitchers using pine tar or other substances is not new, but egregious violations or instances have been reported in the past.
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Chandler Rome, Houston Chronicle, "Astros respond to cryptic, accusatory tweets by Indians' Trevor Bauer," 1 May 2018 Should pine tar or other substances be legalized to help pitchers grip the ball?
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Jorge L. Ortiz, USA TODAY, "MLB players survey: Sounding off on umps, shifts, steroids - and whether to strike back," 28 June 2018 Pitchers skirt the rules and use pine tar, Bullfrog sunscreen or other substances to gain a grip on the ball when the weather is cold or steamy; its use is widely acknowledged, and our respondents seem to be OK with that.
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Jorge L. Ortiz, USA TODAY, "MLB players survey: Sounding off on umps, shifts, steroids - and whether to strike back," 28 June 2018 Some are still gooey from pine tar; others have been broken by a fastball fired a half-century ago.
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Stan Grossfeld, BostonGlobe.com, "This guy has 757 Red Sox bats, and each one tells a story," 5 July 2018 Making his first start since sparking a Twitter spat by suggesting Houston pitchers may be using pine tar, Bauer (2-3) retired his first 13 batters in order on 45 pitches, then needed 41 pitches to get the final two outs of the fifth.
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Ronald Blum, courant.com, "Yankees Beat Indians For 14th Win In 15 Games," 5 May 2018 Equipment manager Spencer Dallin and his staff also packed things like pine tar, rosin bags, batting tees and balls for the batting cage and special laundry detergent that are usually provided by the home team.
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Kevin Acee, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Padres excited for experience of series in Mexico," 3 May 2018
See MoreThese example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'pine tar.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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Time Traveler for pine tar
The first known use of pine tar was in 1855
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