tarpaulin
Americannoun
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a protective covering of canvas or other material waterproofed with tar, paint, or wax.
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a hat, especially a sailor's, made of or covered with such material.
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Rare. a sailor.
noun
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a heavy hard-wearing waterproof fabric made of canvas or similar material coated with tar, wax, or paint, for outdoor use as a protective covering against moisture
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a sheet of this fabric
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a hat of or covered with this fabric, esp a sailor's hat
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a rare word for seaman
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of tarpaulin
Explanation
A tarpaulin is a heavy, waterproof piece of fabric that's used as a protective cover or shelter. You might drape a tarpaulin over your tent when it starts raining in the middle of your camping trip. Or you can just go home. Tarpaulins are often called tarps for short. The word probably includes tar because of the original method for waterproofing a tarpaulin, which involved spreading tar on a heavy piece of canvas. The pall part means "cloth." During the 19th century, it was common to abbreviate the word as paulin, especially in nautical terminology.
Vocabulary lists containing tarpaulin
National Spelling Bee '14: Prelims Round 3
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The Bridge Home
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The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
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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.
Technicians from the charity set up a mobile camp under a tarpaulin, offering shade from the blazing sun, while providing eye examinations, vision tests, and the selection and fitting of glasses.
From Barron's • May 27, 2026
A tarpaulin covered the court to make sure people couldn’t observe his lengthy matches.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 13, 2026
I have a waterproof outfit, a tarpaulin over the bench, decorated with union jacks.
From BBC • May 10, 2026
Gone is the tarpaulin roof: The Bird Cage is now a fully enclosed, soundstage-like structure.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 17, 2026
Inside the cave the dead man was still looking placidly up at him, but the tarpaulin and the gold were gone.
From "Song of Solomon" by Toni Morrison
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.
