tarpit

American

[tahr-pit] / ˈtɑrˌpɪt /

Or tar pit

noun

seepage of natural tar or asphalt, especially an accumulation that has acted as a natural trap into which animals have fallen and sunk and had their bones preserved.

Etymology

Origin of tarpit

First recorded in 1830–40; tar ¹ + pit ¹

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.

When it doesn’t, it turns into a tarpit in which a person could find themselves trapped.

From Salon • May 29, 2025

As soon as he took over from Hillary Clinton as secretary of state in 2013, he plunged into the tarpit of Middle East peace negotiations with an enthusiasm neither his predecessor nor President Obama shared.

From New York Times • Dec. 28, 2016

Only Prince — someone Mr. Kelly has obviously studied — can match him in creating oozing, undulating motion at tempos that would leave other singers stuck like dinosaurs in a tarpit.

From New York Times • Dec. 9, 2013

Big lumbering dinosaur that is thrashing in the tarpit.

From Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town by Doctorow, Cory

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023