Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A two-wheeled carriage drawn by horses harnessed one before the other.
- n. A team of carriage horses harnessed in single file.
- n. A tandem bicycle.
- n. An arrangement of two or more persons or objects placed one behind the other: driving horses in tandem.
- adj. Having two identical components arranged one behind the other: a tandem axle.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. In electricity, in series.
- One behind the other; in single file: as, to drive tandem (that is, with two or more horses harnessed singly one before the other instead of abreast).
- n. A pair of horses (sometimes more) harnessed one before the other.
- n. A carriage drawn by two or more horses harnessed one before the other.
- n. A bicycle or tricycle on which two can ride, one in front of the other.
Wiktionary
- n. A bicycle with two seats, two sets of pedals, and two wheels; a bicycle-built-for-two.
- n. An arrangement of two or more objects arranged one behind the other.
- adv. One behind the other.
- adj. Together; working as one.
GNU Webster's 1913
- adv. One after another; -- said especially of horses harnessed and driven one before another, instead of abreast.
- n. A team of horses harnessed one before the other.
- n. A tandem bicycle or other vehicle.
WordNet 3.0
- n. an arrangement of two or more objects or persons one behind another
- n. a bicycle with two sets of pedals and two seats
- adv. one behind the other
Etymologies
- From Latin tandem ("at length, at last (of time)"), from tam ("so") + suffix -dem. Sense of bicycles with two seats from 1884. (Wiktionary)
- Latin, at last, at length. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Rodriguez's lab has developed what its calls tandem-repeated ubiquitin binding entities to help researchers identify ubiquitin-modified proteins that cannot be detected with current technologies.”
Jacksonville Business News - Local Jacksonville News | Jacksonville Business Journal
“Did not you and Dr. Foster working in tandem endeavor to create me?”
365 tomorrows » 2009 » March : A New Free Flash Fiction SciFi Story Every Day
“Buy these two apps together because when played in tandem, they provide a powerful environmental message for kids.”
“Gold and equity markets are expected to move in tandem in the coming days.”
The Wall Street Journal: Rural Buying May Boost India Gold Demand
“With or without such changes, however, most analysts agree that the PLA's influence is destined to grow, as China's national interests expand in tandem with its economic power.”
“Samsung executives have long warned that profit this year was shaping up differently from its normal pattern of rising in tandem with sales, which tends to peak during the year-end holidays.”
The Wall Street Journal: Samsung Earnings Estimates Disappoint
“A wild card remains whether neighboring Asian countries would allow their currencies to rise in tandem with a yuan appreciation.”
The Wall Street Journal: Stronger Yuan May Not Mean More U.S. Jobs
“I use Tag&Rename in tandem with The Godfather for physically restructuring the folder structure of my music library.”
“Remember that, as is usual, we had two thieves working in tandem; a middle-aged guy throwing a large number of grocery bags into my car trunk and a young boy offering to return my shopping cart to the shopping cart bin.”
“Spillane then worked in tandem with Austria's Felix Gottwald, a former World Cup champion and multiple medalist who came out of retirement for these Games.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘tandem’.
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phrontistery-t
from phrontistery.info
tabacosis, tabanid, tabaret, tabati?re, tabby, tabefaction, tabellary, tabellion, tabernacle, tabernacular, tabescent, tabific and 930 more...
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AGRI - horse breeding
place bet, Przewalski's horse, piaffe, genus Claviceps, stadium jumping, draft animal, snaffle bit, noseband, equestrian sport, endurance riding, curb bit, dressage and 678 more...
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CycList
Anything related to cycling; no motorcycling, please.
frame, pedal, crank arm, top tube, down tube, seat tube, seat stay, chain stay, saddle, fork, hub, rim and 97 more...
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Charles Michael Kittridge Thompson IV
Words from the songs of Frank Black, a.k.a. Black Francis
zugzwang, valhalla, montalvo, ishist, tritons, mosh, siam, llano del rio, protohuman, tumbleweeds, ludwigshafen, ballyhoos and 349 more...
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andystardust's Words
liminal, soporific, solipsism, calumny, sanguine, egregious, inimical, corpus, divulge, a fortiori, salutary, evanescence and 118 more...
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newGRE
mostly from magoosh
imbue, verge on, nonchalant, deliberate, timorous, futile, provisional, dissect, checked, tinged, alluring, visionary and 1046 more...
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NTDW1
template, modal, sublingual, tandem, polycentric, septuagenarian, token, irrevocable, denotive, augural, aberrant, phlebotomy and 1188 more...
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ADW1
obdurate, obstinate, behest, injunction, enjoin, circumspect, ensconce, discursive, lugubrious, doleful, somber, ken and 2476 more...
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Misc. Words.
Words I like to use, words I like but may forget.
corrosion, astonish, solace, ferment, continuum, kinesthetic, permeate, repose, caprice, cardinal, discourse, surrender and 610 more...
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soph2's Words
serendipity, audacity, groak, petrichor, lethologica, loganamnosis, agnuopia, dysania, dysphagia, neologism, incredulity, harbinger and 246 more...
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elizacole's Words
isomorphic, endemic, tmesis, fillip, antedate, avoirdupois, jeremiad, hypnagogic, antediluvian, fuck, reification, raconteur and 251 more...
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Moby-Dick
Interesting words and usages.
hypo, spile, hunks, grapnel, squitchy, skrimshander, monkey jacket, direful, grego, wrapall, dreadnaught, bosky and 158 more...
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just words.
coquette, solecism, peripherally, recrudescence, viscid, turpitude, sententious, light-heeled, interminably, unflappable, palpably, solicitous and 215 more...
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Tolland's list
Those I've come across and try to keep fresh within my mind.
clandestine, dysphoric, indictive, vigil, fractious, assiduous, indefatigable, ubiquitous, insidious, paroicous, aplomb, sangfroid and 654 more...
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wenbo's recent words
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danallison's Words
polysemy, self-reliance, savor, amenities, vintage, proverbial, colloquial, assemblage, ubiquitous, jocular, prosaic, perambulation and 443 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for tandem.

bilby In Europe this word is used in the sense of 'language exchange partner'. e.g.
Gunther speaks German and wants to learn Italian.
Francesca speaks Italian and wants to learn German.
Gunther and Francesca then as tandem partners have meetings in which they converse alternately in their mother and target languages, thus tutoring each other. Apr 1, 2009
reesetee A two-seated, two-wheeled carriage with a high driver's seat, drawn by two or more horses harnessed one before the other (in tandem). Oct 22, 2008
yarb It was a calm; so, forming a tandem of three boats, we commenced the slow business of towing the trophy...
- Melville, Moby-Dick, ch. 64 Jul 25, 2008
sarra From Latin for “at last”; “finally”. No joke. Feb 28, 2008