(From the Unix tar command) To create a transportable archive from a group of files by first sticking them together with "tar(1)" (the Tape ARchiver) and then compressing the result. The latter action is dubbed "feathering" (if only for contrived effect) by analogy to what you do with an aeroplane propeller to decrease wind resistance, or with an oar to reduce water resistance; smaller files, after all, slip through comm links more easily.
(19 Nov 1995)