taratara
1. (verb) to be prickly, spiky, rough, coarse.
Ko tōna tuarā haere ki tōna whiore he mea taratara, pēnā me te kani nei (TWMNT 24/2/1874:52). / Its back down to its tail has scales, like a saw.
Synonyms: kōtaratara, matara, tiotio, tuatete, mākinakina, korotiotio, pūtiotio, tuahuru, māngonge, torehapehape, tuarangaranga, tūpā, tuaranga, mātoretore, pūhungahunga, hīngarungaru, huakau, whekewheke, tupangarua
2. (modifier) prickly, rough, coarse, barbed, spiky.
Tiakina ō rātou hīkoinga i a rātou e haere nei i runga i ngā huarahi taratara o te ao (KO 1/1/1925:157). / Look after them as they travel on the rough roads of the world.
3. (noun) spine, spike, sackcloth.
E whakakākahu ana ahau i ngā rangi ki te mangu, uhia iho te taratara hei hīpoki mō rātou (PT Ihaia 50:3). / I clothe the heavens with blackness, and I make sackcloth their covering.
