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tarpaulin - 4 dictionary results

tar⋅pau⋅lin

[tahr-paw-lin, tahr-puh-lin]
–noun
1. a protective covering of canvas or other material waterproofed with tar, paint, or wax.
2. a hat, esp. a sailor's, made of or covered with such material.
3. Rare. a sailor.

Origin:
1595–1605; earlier tarpauling. See tar 1 , pall 1 , -ing 1
tar·pau·lin   (tär-pô'lĭn, tär'pə-)   
n.  
  1. Material, such as waterproofed canvas, used to cover and protect things from moisture.
  2. A sheet of this material.

[Probably alteration of tar1 + pall1 + -ing2.]

Tarpaulin

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.

2. A hat made of, or covered with, painted or tarred cloth, worn by sailors and others.

3. Hence, a sailor; a seaman; a tar.

To a landsman, these tarpaulins, as they were called, seemed a strange and half-savage race. --Macaulay.
Language Translation for : tarpaulin
Spanish: lona (alquitranada),
German: der Persenning, die Plaue,
Japanese: 防水布

tarpaulin 
1605, from tar (n.1) + palling, from pall "heavy cloth covering" (see pall (n.)); probably so called because the canvas is sometimes coated in tar to make it waterproof.
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