pine tar

noun

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

Pitchers using pine tar or other substances is not new, but egregious violations or instances have been reported in the past. — 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? — 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. — 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. — 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. — 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. — Kevin Acee, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Padres excited for experience of series in Mexico," 3 May 2018 Pitching labs have since figured out there is a way to improve the spin rate: load up pine tar or a similar sticky substance on your fingers. — Tom Verducci, SI.com, "Trevor Bauer's Veiled Accusations of the Astros May Have Merit ... But They're Probably Personal," 2 May 2018 Then Bauer chimed in: More musings about how spin rate might be affected by bubble gum or pine tar followed. — Billy Witz, New York Times, "How Is the Astros’ Pitching So Good? Trevor Bauer Has Theories," 1 May 2018

These 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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The first known use of pine tar was in 1855

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More Definitions for pine tar

pine tar

noun

Medical Definition of pine tar

: tar obtained from the wood of pine trees (genus Pinus and especially P. palustris) and used in soaps and in the treatment of skin diseases

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