See Tar Heel in All languages combined, or Wiktionary
Download JSON data for Tar Heel meaning in English (7.4kB)
{
"etymology_text": "North Carolina was associated with tar (of which it was a major producer) from the 1700s onwards, and residents were (at first derisively) called \"Tarboilers\" since at least the 1840s; \"Tar Heel\" is first attested in 1863 in comments by Confederate soldiers which suggest it was already in common use at that time. One popular theory suggests it refers to North Carolinians having tar on their heels to make them \"stick\", referring either to their reluctance to join the Confederacy, or to their holding ground during battles when other states' troops retreated.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "Tar Heels",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
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"args": {
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},
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"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "American English",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"_dis": "32 38 17 12",
"kind": "topical",
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"source": "w+disamb"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"text": "I'm a Tar Heel born\nI'm a Tar Heel bred\nAnd when I die\nI'm a Tar Heel dead."
}
],
"glosses": [
"Synonym of North Carolinian."
],
"id": "en-Tar_Heel-en-noun-47avYbGl",
"links": [
[
"North Carolinian",
"North Carolinian#English"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(US slang) Synonym of North Carolinian."
],
"synonyms": [
{
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"synonym-of"
],
"word": "North Carolinian"
}
],
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{
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},
{
"_dis": "32 38 17 12",
"kind": "topical",
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"orig": "en:People",
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],
"source": "w+disamb"
}
],
"derived": [
{
"_dis1": "32 68",
"word": "Tar Heel State"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"text": "Michael Jordan is one of many Tar Heel basketball standouts."
}
],
"glosses": [
"A person associated with or supportive of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill."
],
"id": "en-Tar_Heel-en-noun-LN~Fd17S",
"links": [
[
"person",
"person"
],
[
"associated",
"associated"
],
[
"supportive",
"supportive"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(US slang) A person associated with or supportive of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill."
],
"tags": [
"US",
"slang"
]
}
],
"wikipedia": [
"Tar Heel (disambiguation)"
],
"word": "Tar Heel"
}
{
"etymology_text": "North Carolina was associated with tar (of which it was a major producer) from the 1700s onwards, and residents were (at first derisively) called \"Tarboilers\" since at least the 1840s; \"Tar Heel\" is first attested in 1863 in comments by Confederate soldiers which suggest it was already in common use at that time. One popular theory suggests it refers to North Carolinians having tar on their heels to make them \"stick\", referring either to their reluctance to join the Confederacy, or to their holding ground during battles when other states' troops retreated.",
"head_templates": [
{
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"name": "en-proper noun"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "name",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
{
"kind": "place",
"langcode": "en",
"name": "Places in North Carolina, USA",
"orig": "en:Places in North Carolina, USA",
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"name": "Places in the United States",
"orig": "en:Places in the United States",
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"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "place",
"langcode": "en",
"name": "Towns in North Carolina, USA",
"orig": "en:Towns in North Carolina, USA",
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},
{
"_dis": "63 2 13 22",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
"parents": [
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"Entry maintenance"
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"source": "w+disamb"
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{
"_dis": "56 3 13 28",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
"parents": [
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"Entry maintenance"
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"source": "w+disamb"
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{
"_dis": "51 4 16 28",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with topic categories using raw markup",
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"source": "w+disamb"
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{
"_dis": "43 5 27 25",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English informal demonyms",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
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{
"_dis": "53 3 18 27",
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"name": "English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
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{
"_dis": "51 15 17 17",
"kind": "other",
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"name": "Demonyms for Americans",
"orig": "en:Demonyms for Americans",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
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{
"_dis": "32 38 17 12",
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"name": "People",
"orig": "en:People",
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"source": "w+disamb"
}
],
"glosses": [
"A small town in Bladen County, North Carolina."
],
"id": "en-Tar_Heel-en-name-m4zZYvRJ",
"links": [
[
"Bladen County",
"Bladen County#English"
],
[
"North Carolina",
"North Carolina#English"
]
],
"synonyms": [
{
"_dis1": "10 21 52 17",
"word": "Tar heel"
},
{
"_dis1": "10 21 52 17",
"word": "Tarheel"
},
{
"_dis1": "10 21 52 17",
"word": "tarheel"
}
]
},
{
"categories": [
{
"kind": "place",
"langcode": "en",
"name": "Places in Kentucky, USA",
"orig": "en:Places in Kentucky, USA",
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},
{
"kind": "place",
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"name": "Unincorporated communities in Kentucky, USA",
"orig": "en:Unincorporated communities in Kentucky, USA",
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},
{
"kind": "place",
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"name": "Unincorporated communities in the United States",
"orig": "en:Unincorporated communities in the United States",
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"source": "w+disamb"
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],
"glosses": [
"An unincorporated community in Hickman County, Kentucky."
],
"id": "en-Tar_Heel-en-name-5G9fIr35",
"links": [
[
"unincorporated",
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],
[
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],
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"Hickman County",
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],
[
"Kentucky",
"Kentucky#English"
]
]
}
],
"wikipedia": [
"Tar Heel (disambiguation)"
],
"word": "Tar Heel"
}
{
"categories": [
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"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
"English entries with topic categories using raw markup",
"English informal demonyms",
"English lemmas",
"English multiword terms",
"English nouns",
"English proper nouns",
"English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
"English uncountable nouns",
"en:Demonyms for Americans",
"en:People"
],
"derived": [
{
"word": "Tar Heel State"
}
],
"etymology_text": "North Carolina was associated with tar (of which it was a major producer) from the 1700s onwards, and residents were (at first derisively) called \"Tarboilers\" since at least the 1840s; \"Tar Heel\" is first attested in 1863 in comments by Confederate soldiers which suggest it was already in common use at that time. One popular theory suggests it refers to North Carolinians having tar on their heels to make them \"stick\", referring either to their reluctance to join the Confederacy, or to their holding ground during battles when other states' troops retreated.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "Tar Heels",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"head": "Tar Heel"
},
"expansion": "Tar Heel (plural Tar Heels)",
"name": "en-noun"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
"American English",
"English slang"
],
"examples": [
{
"text": "I'm a Tar Heel born\nI'm a Tar Heel bred\nAnd when I die\nI'm a Tar Heel dead."
}
],
"glosses": [
"Synonym of North Carolinian."
],
"links": [
[
"North Carolinian",
"North Carolinian#English"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(US slang) Synonym of North Carolinian."
],
"synonyms": [
{
"tags": [
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],
"word": "North Carolinian"
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],
"tags": [
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},
{
"categories": [
"American English",
"English slang"
],
"examples": [
{
"text": "Michael Jordan is one of many Tar Heel basketball standouts."
}
],
"glosses": [
"A person associated with or supportive of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill."
],
"links": [
[
"person",
"person"
],
[
"associated",
"associated"
],
[
"supportive",
"supportive"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(US slang) A person associated with or supportive of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill."
],
"tags": [
"US",
"slang"
]
}
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "Tar heel"
},
{
"word": "Tarheel"
},
{
"word": "tarheel"
}
],
"wikipedia": [
"Tar Heel (disambiguation)"
],
"word": "Tar Heel"
}
{
"categories": [
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"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
"English entries with topic categories using raw markup",
"English informal demonyms",
"English lemmas",
"English multiword terms",
"English nouns",
"English proper nouns",
"English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
"English uncountable nouns",
"en:Demonyms for Americans",
"en:People"
],
"etymology_text": "North Carolina was associated with tar (of which it was a major producer) from the 1700s onwards, and residents were (at first derisively) called \"Tarboilers\" since at least the 1840s; \"Tar Heel\" is first attested in 1863 in comments by Confederate soldiers which suggest it was already in common use at that time. One popular theory suggests it refers to North Carolinians having tar on their heels to make them \"stick\", referring either to their reluctance to join the Confederacy, or to their holding ground during battles when other states' troops retreated.",
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "Tar Heel",
"name": "en-proper noun"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "name",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
"en:Places in North Carolina, USA",
"en:Places in the United States",
"en:Towns in North Carolina, USA",
"en:Towns in the United States"
],
"glosses": [
"A small town in Bladen County, North Carolina."
],
"links": [
[
"Bladen County",
"Bladen County#English"
],
[
"North Carolina",
"North Carolina#English"
]
]
},
{
"categories": [
"en:Places in Kentucky, USA",
"en:Places in the United States",
"en:Unincorporated communities in Kentucky, USA",
"en:Unincorporated communities in the United States"
],
"glosses": [
"An unincorporated community in Hickman County, Kentucky."
],
"links": [
[
"unincorporated",
"unincorporated"
],
[
"community",
"community"
],
[
"Hickman County",
"Hickman County#English"
],
[
"Kentucky",
"Kentucky#English"
]
]
}
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "Tar heel"
},
{
"word": "Tarheel"
},
{
"word": "tarheel"
}
],
"wikipedia": [
"Tar Heel (disambiguation)"
],
"word": "Tar Heel"
}
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-04-30 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-21 using wiktextract (210104c and c9440ce). 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.