tarpaulin
nounEtymology
From tar + pall (“heavy canvas”) + -ing. The sailor sense reflects that sailors of centuries past often wore garments made of tarred cloth (for weatherproofing).
Definitions
A heavy, waterproof sheet of material, often cloth or plastic sheet, used as a cover or…
A heavy, waterproof sheet of material, often cloth or plastic sheet, used as a cover or blanket (often as weatherproofing, or to keep loose cargo from blowing off a lorry).
- Throw a tarpaulin over that woodpile before it gets wet.
- There were sailors asleep in the fantastic fashion of the British tarpaulin — snoring heavily as they lay on the bare deck, despite the din about them.
Canvas waterproofed with tar, used as a cover.
A hat made of, or covered with, painted or tarred cloth, worn by sailors and others.
- Near-synonym: rain hat
›+ 2 more definitionsshow fewer
A sailor.
To cover with a tarpaulin.
- "Cover it up! Don't touch it!" said the Professor. So we tarpaulined it according to his instructions, and there it lies.
The neighborhood
Vish — recursive loop
No curated loop yet for tarpaulin. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.
sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA