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  1. tarpaulin love

Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. n. Material, such as waterproofed canvas, used to cover and protect things from moisture.
  2. n. A sheet of this material.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. n. Canvas made water-proof with tar; hence, any waterproof cloth, especially when used in large sheets for covering anything exposed to the weather or to wet.
  2. n. A sailor's hat made of or covered with painted or tarred cloth.
  3. n. A sailor.

Wiktionary

  1. n. countable A heavy, waterproof sheet of material, often cloth, used as a cover.
  2. n. countable, slang, archaic A sailor. Often abbreviated to just tar.
  3. n. uncountable, obsolete Any heavy, waterproof material used as a cover.
  4. n. uncountable, nautical, obsolete Canvas waterproofed with tar, used as a cover.
  5. n. A hat made of, or covered with, painted or tarred cloth, worn by sailors and others.

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. n. A piece of canvas covered with tar or a waterproof composition, used for covering the hatches of a ship, hammocks, boats, etc.
  2. n. A hat made of, or covered with, painted or tarred cloth, worn by sailors and others.
  3. n. Hence, a sailor; a seaman; a tar.

WordNet 3.0

  1. n. waterproofed canvas

Etymologies

  1. From tar + pall ("heavy canvas") + -ing. (Wiktionary)
  2. Probably alteration of tar1 + pall1 + -ing2. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)

Examples

  • “Here a tarp, short for tarpaulin, is a waterproof sheet of canvas or heavy duty plastic that you throw over things to keep the rain off.”

    What Mexican Food Are You? and 3 Others

  • “Snow and rain and summer sun had bleached its wood, its runners were red streaks of rust, its rawhide lashings had been eaten off, but snugly rolled inside the tarpaulin was a sack of mail.”

    Laughing Bill Hyde and Other Stories

  • “At the opposite side of the room, a much worn sailor's hat, commonly called a tarpaulin, was balanced upon the point of a fishing rod, and beneath this trophy was placed a small side board, the open doors of which disclosed a number of shelves laden with gilt edged drinking vessels of white and blue china; a set of rose colored tea-cups, and several polished silver plated mugs.”

    The Home in the Valley

  • “The original material used, i.e. the tarpaulin, is called tarpaulin made-ups even after undergoing the process and therefore can't be said to be a manufacturing process, the judges said, dismissing the Commissioner's appeals challenging the Cegat order.”

    Daily News & Analysis

  • “Among the pleasant pictures of memory is that of Thomas Blake as he appeared after he had changed his civilized clothes for a Brook Farm tunic of blue plaid, a "tarpaulin" straw hat and a neat broad rolling shirt collar of large dimensions that gracefully tended towards his square shoulders.”

    Brook Farm

  • “This cover can be out of a sturdy material such as tarpaulin that can be custom ordered to fit your RV specifically.”

    Camping and Camping Resources. Find Camping News, Camping Gear and Camping Reports. Camping RSS Feed Available.

  • “The stage then goes dark while some kind of tarpaulin is laid out, and while it's still dark,”

    Gay Banker

  • “In some parts of the city, entrepreneurs were seen cruising the streets in pickup trucks with tarpaulin sheets covering up six-packs of half-liter bottles of water, priced at 250 baht to 300 baht per pack, or nearly $10.”

    The Wall Street Journal: Bangkok Flood Adds to City's Woes

  • “As she hove to, a cable length away, the captain of The Francis Spaight bestirred himself and ordered a tarpaulin to be thrown over O'Brien's corpse.”

    THE "FRANCIS SPAIGHT"

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synonyms (2)

Words with the same meaning

  1. seaman
  1. tar

hypernyms (2)

Words that are more generic or abstract

  1. canvass
  1. canvas

same context (19)

Words that are found in similar contexts

  1. tarp
  2. canvas
  3. oilcloth
  1. waterproof
  2. poncho
  3. burlap
  1. covering
  2. cardboard
  3. blanket
  1. serge
  2. flannel
  3. wrapper
  1. sou'wester
  2. cordage
  3. matting
  1. umbrella
  2. overcoat
  3. sheepskin
  1. leggings

reverse dictionary (14)

Words that contain this word in their definition

  1. tarpauling
  2. fother
  1. paulin
  2. weather-cloth
  1. mess-cloth
  2. batten
  1. to batten down
  2. boom-cover
  1. hammock-cloth
  2. lashing-ring
  1. tarp
  2. stretch
  1. waistcloth
  2. weather cloth

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‘tarpaulin’ has been looked up 2190 times, loved by 1 person, added to 25 lists, commented on 1 time, and has a Scrabble score of 11.