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.

 

© Webster 1913.

Log in or register to write something here or to contact authors.