Forms: 6 gerre, 6–7 iarre, 7–8 jarr, 6– jar. [Goes with JAR v. Sense 7 appears to be independently taken from the vb.; and in sense 8 there may be an independent operation of the same echoic or onomatopæic process which gave rise to the vb. and sb.]
I. A sound or vibration.
1. A harsh inharmonious sound or combination of sounds; † spec. in Mus., A discord (obs.).
1553. T. Wilson, Rhet. (1580), 169. Composition … is an apte joynyng together of woordes in suche order, that neither the eare shall espie any gerre, nor yet [etc.].
1586. W. Massie, Marriage Serm. at Trafford. A litle iarre in musick is not easily espied.
1600. Shaks., A. Y. L., II. vii. 5. If he compact of iarres, grow Musicall, We shall haue shortly discord in the Spheares.
1655. Moufet & Bennet, Health’s Improv. (1746), 359. When the Jars of Crowders shall be thought good Music.
1781. Cowper, Conversat., 902. With rash and awkward force the chord he shakes, And grins with wonder at the jar he makes.
1841. D’Israeli, Amen. Lit. (1867), 278. The critic’s fastidious ear listens to nothing but the jar of rude rhymes.
† 2. A vibration or tick of the clock; cf. JAR v.2. Obs. rare.
1611. Shaks., Wint. T., I. ii. 43. I loue thee not a Iarre o’ th’ clock, behind What Lady she her Lord.
3. A quivering or grating sound; a tremulous or harsh vibration of sound.
1669. Holder, Elem. Speech, 51 (J.). The impulse … shakes and agitates the whole Tongue, whereby the sound is affected with a trembling jarre.
1813. Scott, Rokeby, V. iv. Bolt and bar Resumed their place with sullen jar.
1885. R. L. & F. Stevenson, Dynamiter, ii. 9. House after house echoed upon his passage with a ghostly jar.
4. A vibration or tremulous movement resulting from concussion, esp. a movement of this kind running through the body or nerves; a thrill of the nerves, mind or feelings caused by, or resembling the effect of, a physical shock.
c. 1815. Jane Austen, Persuas., xii. She … ran up the steps to be jumped down again. He advised her against it, thought the jar too great.
1822–34. Good’s Study Med. (ed. 4), I. 371. Such exercise as gives a general jar to the animal frame, as riding a hard-trotting horse.
a. 1853. Robertson, Lect., i. (1858), 100. I know what it is to feel the jar of nerve gradually cease.
1871. R. H. Hutton, Ess., II. 131. It is a jar to the mind, like coming down three steps without notice.
II. 5. Discord, want of harmony, disagreement; a divergence or conflict of opinions, etc.; † a discrepancy of statement (obs.).
1548. Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. John x. verse 19. There fel a newe iar in opinions among the people.
1593. Bilson, Govt. Christ’s Ch., 21. The iarre in the number of the Judges, I labour not to reconcile.
1612. T. Taylor, Comm. Titus i. 16. Not … admitting discord, and iarre in things whereof the one should be as the true exposition of the other.
1893. in Barrows, Parlt. Relig., II. 837. [If] there has been no such jar in the original creation as the doctrine of sin implies.
6. Discord manifested in strife or contention; variance, dissension, quarrelling.
1546. J. Heywood, Prov., II. ii. (1867), 47. Alone to bed she went. This was their beginnyng of iar.
1590. Spenser, F. Q., II. ii. 26. He maketh warre, he maketh peace againe, And yett his peace is but continual iarre.
1658. Whole Duty Man, xv. ¶ 2. The continual conversation that is among them … will be apt to minister some occasion of jar.
1781. Cowper, Expost., 294. Thy senate is a scene of civil jar.
1850. Tennyson, In Mem., xciv. They can but listen at the gates, And hear the household jar within.
b. A dissension, dispute, quarrel. Now used chiefly of petty (esp. domestic) broils.
1583. Babington, Commandm., v. (1590), 186. Brawles, iarres, and vnkindnesse betwixt man and wife before their Children and Seruants.
1682. Bunyan, Holy War, xi. Now there were no jars, no chiding … in all the Town of Mansoul.
1700. Dryden, Pal. & Arc., II. 418. The vanquish’d party shall their claim release, And the long jars conclude in lasting peace.
1848. Bright, Sp., Ireland, 25 Aug. Ireland has long been a land of jars and turmoil.
1853–7. Trench, Proverbs, i. 20. Women’s jars breed men’s wars.
1887. Jessopp, Arcady, i. 5. Once or twice a family jar put two households at war.
c. At (a) jar, † at jars: at discord, in a state of dissension or variance. † To fall at jar: to fall out, to quarrel (obs.) Cf. AJAR2. Now rare.
1552. Acts Privy Counc. Eng., 23 July (1892), 102. A letter to the Mayour and townes men of Excestre willing them … to contynnewe in frendship with … the gentlemen with whome they were lately at jarre.
1586. J. Hooker, Hist. Irel., in Holinshed, II. 82/2. The citizens and Ormond his armie fell at some iar.
1603. Knolles, Hist. Turks (1638), 122. The German Princes were still at a jarre about the choice of their Emperors.
1674. N. Fairfax, Bulk & Selv., 74. An hugger-mugger of meddlesom beings all at jars.
1784. J. Barry, in Lect. Paint., vi. (1848), 220. The hues of colour in the sky and distance must frequently be at jar with the light and shade of the advanced parts.
1859. I. Taylor, Logic in Theol., 139. The life seen and temporal, and the life eternal are at a jar.
III. 7. A method of connecting the bit and the rods or cable in an apparatus for drilling rocks by impact, by means of which at each up-stroke a jar of the bit is produced which jerks it upwards though it may be tightly wedged in the hole.
a. 1864. Gesner, Coal, Petrol., etc. (1865), 28. The downward stroke of the walking-beam releases the Auger Stem and Bit for an instant as the Jars slide together, and they fall the distance necessary to penetrate the rock, and are again lifted by the Jars on the upward stroke.
1881. Raymond, Mining Gloss., Jars. A part of percussion-drilling apparatus for deep holes,… which by producing at each up-stroke a decided jar of the bit jerks it up.
1883. E. V. Smalley, in Century Mag., July, 330/1. The ‘jars,’ two heavy bars linked together.
IV. 8. A representation of the harsh vibratory sound made by certain birds and insects, used to form their popular names, as JAR-BIRD, JAR-FLY, JAR-OWL; hence transferred to the animal, etc., as in EVE-JAR, NIGHT-JAR.
