Mar \Mar\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Marred (m["a]rd); p. pr. & vb. n. Marring.]

[OE. marren, merren, AS. merran, myrran (in comp.), to obstruct, impede, dissipate; akin to OS. merrian, OHG. marrjan, merran; cf. D. marren, meeren, to moor a ship, Icel. merja to bruise, crush, and Goth. marzjan to offend. Cf. Moor, v.]

1. To make defective; to do injury to, esp. by cutting off or defacing a part; to impair; to disfigure; to deface.

I pray you mar no more trees with wiring love songs in their barks. --Shak.

But mirth is marred, and the good cheer is lost. --Dryden.

Ire, envy, and despair Which marred all his borrowed visage. --Milton.

2. To spoil; to ruin. ``It makes us, or it mars us.'' ``Striving to mend, to mar the subject.'' --Shak.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)