Dictionary

tarten en · VERB

Etymology

From tart + -en.

Meanings

1. (transitive) To make tart or bitter
   • I loved their shouts of welcome as I trudged across the fields carrying the heavy jug. Mama mixed the old time drink from cold well water, a pinch of ginger, molasses and some vinegar to tarten it. 1964, Long Island Forum, volumes 27-29, page 169:
   • He knew precisely when to spice the orchestration with percussive pepper, when to add a pinch more of sugar, when to tarten the mixture with a squeeze or two of lime. 1991, The Lyric Opera companion, The History, Lore, and Stories of the World's Greatest Operas:
   • These faults in a scholar tend to tarten the writing, to enliven the reader. 1956, Library Journal, volume 81, page 2257:
2. (intransitive) To become tart or bitter
   • […] her sweetness tartened as one side of her clutched loyalty, the other love. 1928, The Second American Caravan: A Yearbook of American Literature:

Forms