tattoo
Use Tattoo in a sentence
noun, plural tat·toos.
1.
a signal on a drum, bugle, or trumpet at night, for soldiers or sailors to go to their quarters.
2.
a knocking or strong pulsation: My heart beat a tattoo on my ribs.
3.
British. an outdoor military pageant or display.
Origin:
1570–80; earlier taptoo < Dutch taptoe literally, the tap(room) is to (i.e., shut)
1570–80; earlier taptoo < Dutch taptoe literally, the tap(room) is to (i.e., shut)
Dictionary.com Unabridged
noun
1.
the act or practice of marking the skin with indelible patterns, pictures, legends, etc., by making punctures in it and inserting pigments.
2.
a pattern, picture, legend, etc., so made.
verb (used with object)
3.
to mark (the skin) with tattoos.
4.
to put (tattoos) on the skin.
Origin:
1760–70; < Marquesan tatu; replacing tattow < Tahitian tatau
1760–70; < Marquesan tatu; replacing tattow < Tahitian tatau
Related forms
tat·too·er, tat·too·ist, noun
un·tat·tooed, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To tattoo
00:10
Tattoo
is always a great word to know.
So is quincunx. Does it mean:
| an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle. |
| the offspring of a zebra and a donkey. |
Collins
World English Dictionary
tattoo1 (tæˈtuː) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —n , pl -toos | |
| 1. | (formerly) a signal by drum or bugle ordering the military to return to their quarters |
| 2. | a military display or pageant, usually at night |
| 3. | any similar beating on a drum, etc |
| [C17: from Dutch taptoe, from the command tap toe! turn off the taps! from tap tap of a barrel + toe to shut] | |
| tattoo2 (tæˈtuː) | |
| —vb , -toos, -tooing, -tooed | |
| 1. | to make (pictures or designs) on (the skin) by pricking and staining with indelible colours |
| —n , -toos, -tooing, -tooed, -toos | |
| 2. | a design made by this process |
| 3. | the practice of tattooing |
| [C18: from Tahitian tatau] | |
| tat'tooer2 | |
| —n | |
| tat'tooist2 | |
| —n | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
tattoo
"signal," 1688, "signal calling soldiers or sailors to quarters at night," earlier tap-to (1644, in order of Col. Hutchinson to garrison of Nottingham), from Du. taptoe, from tap "faucet of a cask" (see tap (2)) + toe "shut." So called because police used to visit taverns in
the evening to shut off the taps of casks. Transf. sense of "drumbeat" is recorded from 1755. Hence, Devil's tattoo "action of idly drumming fingers in irritation or impatience" (1803).
tattoo
"mark the skin with pigment," 1769 (noun and ver, both first attested in writing of Capt. Cook), from a Polynesian noun (e.g. Tahitian and Samoan tatau, Marquesan tatu "puncture, mark made on skin").
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Medical Dictionary
tattoo tat·too (tā-t&oomacr;')
n. pl. tat·toos
A permanent mark or design made on the skin by a process of pricking and ingraining an indelible pigment or by raising scars. v. tat·tooed, tat·too·ing, tat·toos
To mark the skin with a tattoo.
To form a tattoo on the skin.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Cite This Source
Example sentences
Nowhere does that cross-pollination get more unexpected than between popular science and tattoo culture.
If you're feeling really hardcore, you could even add a squid tattoo.
Sometimes people don't do their research before getting a tattoo.
So, you are eighteen now, and mom and dad gave you permission to go ahead and get that tattoo you've been dying for.
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