English Explanatory Dictionary

tarpaulin

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. 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).
  2. Canvas waterproofed with tar, used as a cover.
  3. A hat made of, or covered with, painted or tarred cloth, worn by sailors and others.
  4. A sailor.
verb
  1. To cover with a tarpaulin.

Pronunciation

/tɑˈpɔː.lɪn/ /ˈtɑːɹpəlɪn/ /tɑɹˈpɔ.lɪn/ En-au-tarpaulin.ogg

Word forms

tarpaulin tarpaulins tarpaulining tarpaulined

Etymology

From tar + pall (“heavy canvas”) + -ing. The sailor sense reflects that sailors of centuries past often wore garments made of tarred cloth (for weatherproofing).

Synonyms

rain hat tar

Related words

pall raincoat rainsuit tarp

Derived words

tarp paulin

Translations

Bulgarian: брезе́нт Dutch: zeildoek Dutch: bâche Finnish: pressu French: bâche Hebrew: בְּרֶזֶנְט Italian: telone Māori: tāpōrena Norwegian Bokmål: presenning Portuguese: lona Russian: тент Spanish: lona
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