tarred and feathered
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
Stripped to the skin, daubed with tar, and then rolled in feathers
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “tarred and feathered” mean?
Stripped to the skin, daubed with tar, and then rolled in feathers
Is “tarred and feathered” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.