Tan
(Tan), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Tanned ; p. pr. & vb. n. Tanning.] [F. tanner, LL. tannare. See Tan,
n.]
1. To convert (the skin of an animal) into leather, as by usual process of steeping it in an infusion of
oak or some other bark, whereby it is impregnated with tannin, or tannic acid (which exists in several
species of bark), and is thus rendered firm, durable, and in some degree impervious to water.
The essential result in tanning is due to the fact that the tannins form, with gelatins and albuminoids, a
series of insoluble compounds which constitute leather. Similar results may be produced by the use of
other reagents in place of tannin, as alum, and some acids or chlorides, which are employed in certain
processes of tanning.
2. To make brown; to imbrown, as by exposure to the rays of the sun; as, to tan the skin.
Tan
(Tan) v. i. To get or become tanned.
Tana
(Ta"na) n. (Zoöl.) Same as Banxring.
Tanager
(Tan"a*ger) n. [NL. tanagra, probably fr. Brazilian tangara.] (Zoöl.) Any one of numerous
species of bright-colored singing birds belonging to Tanagra, Piranga, and allied genera. The scarlet
tanager (Piranga erythromelas) and the summer redbird (Piranga rubra) are common species of the
United States.
Tanagrine
(Tan"a*grine) a. (Zoöl.) Of or pertaining to the tanagers.
Tanagroid
(Tan"a*groid) a. [Tanager + - oid.] (Zoöl.) Tanagrine.
Tanate
(||Ta*na"te) n. (Zoöl.) An Asiatic wild dog native of Japan and adjacent countries. It has a short,
bushy tail. Called also raccoon dog.
Tandem
(Tan"dem) adv. & a. [L. tandem at length punningly taken as meaning, lengthwise.] One
after another; — said especially of horses harnessed and driven one before another, instead of abreast.
Tandem
(Tan"dem), n. A team of horses harnessed one before the other. "He drove tandems." Thackeray.
Tandem engine, a compound steam engine having two or more steam cylinders in the same axis,
close to one another. — Tandem bicycle or tricycle, one for two persons in which one rider sits
before the other.
Tang
(Tang) n. [Of Scand. origin; cf. Dan. tang seaweed, Sw. tång, Icel. þang. Cf. Tangle.] (Bot.)
A coarse blackish seaweed (Fuscus nodosus). Dr. Prior.
Tang sparrow (Zoöl.), the rock pipit. [Prov. Eng.]
Tang
(Tang), n. [Probably fr. OD. tanger sharp, tart, literally, pinching; akin to E. tongs. &radic59. See
Tong.]
1. A strong or offensive taste; especially, a taste of something extraneous to the thing itself; as, wine or
cider has a tang of the cask.
2. Fig.: A sharp, specific flavor or tinge. Cf. Tang a twang.
Such proceedings had a strong tang of tyranny.
Fuller.
A cant of philosophism, and a tang of party politics.
Jeffrey.
