tarry
1 Americanverb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
noun
adjective
verb
-
(intr) to delay in coming or going; linger
-
(intr) to remain temporarily or briefly
-
(intr) to wait or stay
-
archaic (tr) to await
noun
Related Words
See wait.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of tarry1
First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English taryen “to delay,” tary “a delay”; origin unknown
Origin of tarry2
Explanation
To tarry is to linger and take your time leaving. If you really like going to Sally’s Diner for dessert, you might tarry over coffee and end up leaving after they’ve closed the kitchen. The verb tarry is perfect for describing what happens when those relatives that you see once a year come to your house for lunch and never seem to leave. When people tarry they stick around and take a long time to depart, sometimes lurking or loitering, or sometimes enjoying each other's company. Tarry can also mean to hang around a place without purpose. You might tarry in the park until the day is fading and you have to go home.
Vocabulary lists containing tarry
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List 1
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To Kill a Mockingbird
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Brands never lets his subject tarry long enough to freeze into marmoreal stillness.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 22, 2026
In the western province of Alberta, where many ferocious wildfires burned, huge deposits of thick crude oil, mixed with tarry sand, sit beneath the forest and near the snaking Athabasca River.
From Washington Times • Nov. 9, 2023
But thick mats of tarry petroleum asphalt cover portions of sandbars, oil-speckled rocks and bushes line the shore and the wreckage of a tank car juts from the middle of the river.
From Seattle Times • Aug. 24, 2023
As the big cat pounces, its quarry bolts forward into a tarry pool.
From Science Magazine • Aug. 16, 2023
He would only strive after whatever the inward voice commanded him, not tarry anywhere but where the voice advised him.
From "Siddhartha" by Hermann Hesse
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.