tarpaulin

  • 1Tarpaulin — Tar*pau lin, n. [Tar + palling a covering, pall to cover. See {Pall} a covering.] 1. A piece of canvas covered with tar or a waterproof composition, used for covering the hatches of a ship, hammocks, boats, etc. [1913 Webster] 2. A hat made of,… …

    The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • 2tarpaulin — c.1600, from TAR (Cf. tar) (n.1) + palling, from pall heavy cloth covering (see PALL (Cf. pall) (n.)); probably so called because the canvas is sometimes coated in tar to make it waterproof …

    Etymology dictionary

  • 3tarpaulin — ► NOUN 1) heavy duty waterproof cloth, originally of tarred canvas. 2) a sheet or covering of this. ORIGIN probably from TAR(Cf. ↑tar) + PALL(Cf. ↑pall) + ING(Cf. ↑ ing) …

    English terms dictionary

  • 4tarpaulin — [tär pô′lin, tär′pə lin] n. [ TAR1 + paulin, prob. < palling < PALL2, a covering] 1. a) waterproof material; specif., canvas coated with a waterproofing compound b) a sheet of this used for spreading over something to protect it from… …

    English World dictionary

  • 5Tarpaulin — A tarpaulin or tarp is a large sheet of strong, flexible, water resistant or waterproof material, often cloth such as canvas or polyester coated with plastics such as latex or PVC. In some places such as Australia, and in military slang, a tarp… …

    Wikipedia

  • 6tarpaulin — [[t]tɑː(r)pɔ͟ːlɪn[/t]] tarpaulins 1) N UNCOUNT: oft N n Tarpaulin is a fabric made of canvas or similar material coated with tar, wax, paint, or some other waterproof substance. ... a piece of tarpaulin. ...tarpaulin covers. 2) N COUNT A… …

    English dictionary

  • 7Tarpaulin — Persenning ist ein Begriff aus der Seemannssprache für jede Art wasserfester Abdeckung aus imprägniertem Gewebe, die für einen bestimmten Zweck zurechtgeschneidert ist. Imprägnierung wurde in früheren Jahrhunderten durch Teeren und den Einsatz… …

    Deutsch Wikipedia

  • 8tarpaulin — n. to spread a tarpaulin * * * [tɑː pɔːlɪn] to spread a tarpaulin …

    Combinatory dictionary

  • 9tarpaulin — UK [tɑː(r)ˈpɔːlɪn] / US [tɑrˈpɔlɪn] noun [countable] Word forms tarpaulin : singular tarpaulin plural tarpaulins a large piece of thick plastic or other material that you put over something to protect it from rain …

    English dictionary

  • 10tarpaulin — noun a) A heavy, waterproof sheet of material, often cloth, used as a cover. Throw a tarpaulin over that woodpile before it gets wet. b) A sailor. Often abbreviated to just tar …

    Wiktionary