"catch a Tartar" meaning in All languages combined

See catch a Tartar on Wiktionary

Verb [English]

Forms: catches a Tartar [present, singular, third-person], catching a Tartar [participle, present], caught a Tartar [participle, past], caught a Tartar [past]
Head templates: {{en-verb|catch<,,caught> a Tartar}} catch a Tartar (third-person singular simple present catches a Tartar, present participle catching a Tartar, simple past and past participle caught a Tartar)
  1. (archaic, colloquial) To discover someone is much stronger, much more dangerous, and/or much more violent than they appeared at first, especially after laying hands on them or (thieves' cant, obsolete) in a failed attempt to rob someone who turns out to be a stronger robber. Tags: archaic, colloquial
    Sense id: en-catch_a_Tartar-en-verb-qXZQVUZF Categories (other): English Thieves' Cant, English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 49 51 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 50 50 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 49 51
  2. (archaic, colloquial, figurative) To discover someone who cannot be controlled or disposed of more generally. Tags: archaic, colloquial, figuratively
    Sense id: en-catch_a_Tartar-en-verb-2cqhrZbR Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 49 51 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 50 50 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 49 51
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Synonyms: get someone for a Tartar

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "catches a Tartar",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "catching a Tartar",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "caught a Tartar",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "caught a Tartar",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "catch<,,caught> a Tartar"
      },
      "expansion": "catch a Tartar (third-person singular simple present catches a Tartar, present participle catching a Tartar, simple past and past participle caught a Tartar)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English Thieves' Cant",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "49 51",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "50 50",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "49 51",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1674, Samuel Butler, Hudibras, §1.3.175:",
          "text": "Now thou hast got me for a Tartar,\nTo make m 'gainst my will take quarter.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1680, John Dryden, Kind Keeper, §5.1.62:",
          "text": "What a Tartar have I caught!",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1720, Daniel Defoe, Life of Captain Singleton, page 281:",
          "text": "Tell him, if he try, he may catch a Tartar.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To discover someone is much stronger, much more dangerous, and/or much more violent than they appeared at first, especially after laying hands on them or (thieves' cant, obsolete) in a failed attempt to rob someone who turns out to be a stronger robber."
      ],
      "id": "en-catch_a_Tartar-en-verb-qXZQVUZF",
      "links": [
        [
          "discover",
          "discover"
        ],
        [
          "someone",
          "someone"
        ],
        [
          "much",
          "much"
        ],
        [
          "stronger",
          "stronger"
        ],
        [
          "more",
          "more"
        ],
        [
          "dangerous",
          "dangerous"
        ],
        [
          "and/or",
          "and/or"
        ],
        [
          "violent",
          "violent"
        ],
        [
          "they",
          "they"
        ],
        [
          "appear",
          "appear"
        ],
        [
          "at first",
          "at first"
        ],
        [
          "especially",
          "especially"
        ],
        [
          "laying hands on",
          "laying hands on"
        ],
        [
          "them",
          "them"
        ],
        [
          "failed",
          "failed"
        ],
        [
          "attempt",
          "attempt"
        ],
        [
          "rob",
          "rob"
        ],
        [
          "turns out",
          "turns out"
        ],
        [
          "robber",
          "robber"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(archaic, colloquial) To discover someone is much stronger, much more dangerous, and/or much more violent than they appeared at first, especially after laying hands on them or (thieves' cant, obsolete) in a failed attempt to rob someone who turns out to be a stronger robber."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "archaic",
        "colloquial"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "49 51",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "50 50",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "49 51",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1897, Florence Marryat, chapter XIV, in The Blood of the Vampire:",
          "text": "You must give up flirting, my boy, or if I mistake not, you'll find you've caught a Tartar.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To discover someone who cannot be controlled or disposed of more generally."
      ],
      "id": "en-catch_a_Tartar-en-verb-2cqhrZbR",
      "links": [
        [
          "discover",
          "discover"
        ],
        [
          "someone",
          "someone"
        ],
        [
          "cannot",
          "cannot"
        ],
        [
          "controlled",
          "controlled"
        ],
        [
          "disposed",
          "disposed"
        ],
        [
          "more",
          "more"
        ],
        [
          "generally",
          "generally"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(archaic, colloquial, figurative) To discover someone who cannot be controlled or disposed of more generally."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "archaic",
        "colloquial",
        "figuratively"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "_dis1": "48 52",
      "word": "get someone for a Tartar"
    }
  ],
  "word": "catch a Tartar"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English verbs",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries"
  ],
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "catches a Tartar",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "catching a Tartar",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "caught a Tartar",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "caught a Tartar",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "catch<,,caught> a Tartar"
      },
      "expansion": "catch a Tartar (third-person singular simple present catches a Tartar, present participle catching a Tartar, simple past and past participle caught a Tartar)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English Thieves' Cant",
        "English colloquialisms",
        "English terms with archaic senses",
        "English terms with obsolete senses",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "Quotation templates to be cleaned"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1674, Samuel Butler, Hudibras, §1.3.175:",
          "text": "Now thou hast got me for a Tartar,\nTo make m 'gainst my will take quarter.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1680, John Dryden, Kind Keeper, §5.1.62:",
          "text": "What a Tartar have I caught!",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1720, Daniel Defoe, Life of Captain Singleton, page 281:",
          "text": "Tell him, if he try, he may catch a Tartar.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To discover someone is much stronger, much more dangerous, and/or much more violent than they appeared at first, especially after laying hands on them or (thieves' cant, obsolete) in a failed attempt to rob someone who turns out to be a stronger robber."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "discover",
          "discover"
        ],
        [
          "someone",
          "someone"
        ],
        [
          "much",
          "much"
        ],
        [
          "stronger",
          "stronger"
        ],
        [
          "more",
          "more"
        ],
        [
          "dangerous",
          "dangerous"
        ],
        [
          "and/or",
          "and/or"
        ],
        [
          "violent",
          "violent"
        ],
        [
          "they",
          "they"
        ],
        [
          "appear",
          "appear"
        ],
        [
          "at first",
          "at first"
        ],
        [
          "especially",
          "especially"
        ],
        [
          "laying hands on",
          "laying hands on"
        ],
        [
          "them",
          "them"
        ],
        [
          "failed",
          "failed"
        ],
        [
          "attempt",
          "attempt"
        ],
        [
          "rob",
          "rob"
        ],
        [
          "turns out",
          "turns out"
        ],
        [
          "robber",
          "robber"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(archaic, colloquial) To discover someone is much stronger, much more dangerous, and/or much more violent than they appeared at first, especially after laying hands on them or (thieves' cant, obsolete) in a failed attempt to rob someone who turns out to be a stronger robber."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "archaic",
        "colloquial"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English colloquialisms",
        "English terms with archaic senses",
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1897, Florence Marryat, chapter XIV, in The Blood of the Vampire:",
          "text": "You must give up flirting, my boy, or if I mistake not, you'll find you've caught a Tartar.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To discover someone who cannot be controlled or disposed of more generally."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "discover",
          "discover"
        ],
        [
          "someone",
          "someone"
        ],
        [
          "cannot",
          "cannot"
        ],
        [
          "controlled",
          "controlled"
        ],
        [
          "disposed",
          "disposed"
        ],
        [
          "more",
          "more"
        ],
        [
          "generally",
          "generally"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(archaic, colloquial, figurative) To discover someone who cannot be controlled or disposed of more generally."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "archaic",
        "colloquial",
        "figuratively"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "get someone for a Tartar"
    }
  ],
  "word": "catch a Tartar"
}

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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-12-15 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-12-04 using wiktextract (8a39820 and 4401a4c). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.