English▸ verb
( jars, jarring, jarred)
1 [with object] send a painful or damaging shock through (something, especially a part of the body):
he jarred the knee in training.
▪ [no object] strike against something with an unpleasant vibration or jolt:
the stick jarred on the bottom of the pond.
2 [no object] have an unpleasant or disturbing effect:
a laugh which jarred on the ears
the difference in their background began to jar.
▪ be incongruous in a striking or shocking way:
the play's symbolism jarred with the realism of its setting.
▸ noun a physical shock or jolt:
the train stopped without the slightest jar.
▪ [mass noun] archaic discord or disagreement.
– ORIGIN late 15th century (as a noun in the sense ‘disagreement, dispute’): probably imitative.