tar-and-feather
See also: tar and feather
English
Alternative forms
- tar and feather
Verb
tar-and-feather (third-person singular simple present tar-and-feathers or tars-and-feathers, present participle tar-and-feathering or tarring-and-feathering, simple past and past participle tar-and-feathered or tarred-and-feathered)
- To cover a person in sticky tar, then covered in feathers which stick to the tar. An archaic means of humiliating a person.
- 1884, Mark Twain, chapter XI, in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn:
- The villagers had a strong desire to tar-and-feather Injun Joe and ride him on a rail, for body-snatching, but so formidable was his character that nobody could be found who was willing to take the lead in the matter, so it was dropped
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