tampon
Americannoun
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tampons
plural
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a plug of cotton or the like for insertion into an orifice, wound, etc., chiefly for absorbing blood or stopping hemorrhages.
-
such a plug used for absorbing menstrual flow, especially one that is manufactured commercially.
-
a two-headed drumstick for playing rolls.
verb (used with object)
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tampons,
present (3rd person singular)
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tamponed,
past participle, past
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tamponing
present participle
noun
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
tamponsimple
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tamponssimple
-
have tamponedperfect
-
has tamponedperfect
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am tamponingprogressive
-
are tamponingprogressive
-
is tamponingprogressive
-
have been tamponingperfect progressive
-
has been tamponingperfect progressive
Past
-
tamponedsimple
-
had tamponedperfect
-
was tamponingprogressive
-
were tamponingprogressive
-
had been tamponingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of tampon
From French, dating back to 1855–60; see origin at tampion
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
I got my period and asked a woman in the train station for a tampon.
From Slate ● Oct. 28, 2024
A consumer study published in 2022 by the watchdog group Mamavation in partnership with Environmental Health News found that 22% of the 23 lab-tested tampon brands contained indications of PFAS.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 30, 2024
It's childish and weird to act like even looking at a tampon box will emasculate you.
From Salon ● Aug. 8, 2024
Clever tips include concealing a zip lock bag in tape so you can't see inside, which turns it into a portable tampon carrier and bin.
From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2023
People don't like to know that three quarters of their tampon strings are being buried, or that their paychecks have less to do with their company's profitability than its owner's compassion.
From "An Abundance of Katherines" by John Green
At Walmart, the same Folgers coffee costs $8.97, Maruchan chicken ramen soup is 50 cents and 40 Tampax tampons are $12.19.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2026
It didn’t work: By early this year many sections of the bridge were littered with locks and other rubbish, including unused tampons, a foot influencer’s single sock and a pill bottle with a Hungarian label.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 10, 2026
Some may ask for menstrual hygiene products, like pads and tampons.
From Salon ● Feb. 4, 2026
For many of us, our first lessons about periods were brief and practical, often limited to learning how to use pads or tampons.
From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2025
“It’s not normalizing anything if everyone just pretends they don't see it or that the tampons don't exist.”
From "Tradition" by Brendan Kiely
The trachea must be divided and tamponed by a Trendelenburg canula, after which the larynx must be carefully dissected out.
From A Manual of the Operations of Surgery For the Use of Senior Students, House Surgeons, and Junior Practitioners by Joseph Bell
The after-treatment consists in tamponing the wound with pledgets of iodoform gauze or a mixture of iodoform 1 part and glycerin 4 parts.
From Special Report on Diseases of Cattle by United States. Bureau of Animal Industry
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
