tara
1. (noun) peak, point, thorn, tooth (of a comb), papillae (of the skin), sprocket, cog.
Ka orohia te pounamu hei matau, hei pākuru, hei tara tao (Te Ara 2013). / The greenstone was ground and made into fish hooks, hammer stones and points for spears.
Synonyms: hīnawanawa, keokeo, matatihi, keo, tautara, tihi, keokeonga, maunga, keho, tāpuhipuhi, karamata, koi, koinga, toi, toitoi, mata, matū, matamata, tongi, hiku, kūmore, raenga, akitu, paina, ngahu, tāmore
2. (noun) cloak pin, spike.
Kātahi ka wetekina te hei, te tara, te makao, ka horahia atu, ka hoatu ki te mano e noho mai rā (NM 1928:152). / Then the neck ornament, the cloak pin and the shark's tooth were untied, laid out and presented to the thousands sitting there.
3. (noun) rays (of the sun).
He kupu anō te hihi mō ngā tara o Tama-nui-te-rā (Te Ara 2013). / Hihi is another word for the rays of the sun.
4. (noun) vagina, female genitals, genitalia, vulva.
Ko te tara te puaretanga o te kōpū, te ara e kuhu ai te ure i te aitanga a te tāne me te wahine. Koia hoki te ara e puta ai te pēpi i te wā whakawhānau (RP 2009:383). / The vagina is the opening of the womb, the path that the penis enters when a man and woman copulate. It is also the passage whereby the baby emerges at childbirth.
