tartar (3)

[Fr. tartre, from Low Lat. tar tarum =the deposit in wine-casks; Sp. & Ital. tar taro.] Chem.: A generic name for tartaric acid, but applied especially to the acid tartrate of pota ium. [ARGOL, CREAM OF TARTAR.]. (1) Petrified tartar : [TARTARUM.] (2) Tartar of the Teeth: An earthy substance which is deposited from the saliva on the teeth when proper attention is not paid to them. It consists of salivary mucus, animal matter, and phosphate of lime. tartar-emetic, s. 1. Sharp to the taste; acid, acidulated. "The juice is very tart . " -Dampier : Voyages (an. 1686). emetic or a purgative. When a patient becomes 2. Sharp, severe, biting, keen. "The popular harangue, the tart reply, The logic, and the wisdom, and the wit, And the lord laugh." Cowper: Task , iv. 31. tart, *tarte, subst . [Fr. tarte , tourte , from Lat. torta , fem. sing. of tort us =twisted, pa. par. of tor queo to twist; Ital. tarter a , torta ; Sp. torta ; Dut. taart ; Ger. torte; Dan. tærte .] A kind of small open pie or piece of pastry, consisting of fruit or preserve baked and inclosed in, or surrounded by, paste. "It grows on a bushy plant, has a bitterish taste, rather insipid; but may be eaten either raw or in tarts , and is used as food by the natives." -Cook: Second Voyage, bk. iv., ch. ii. tart-rhubarb, subst. Rheum rhaponticum and R. hybridum. [RHUBARB.]