tattoo
1 Americannoun
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a signal on a drum, bugle, or trumpet at night, for soldiers or sailors to go to their quarters.
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a knocking or strong pulsation.
My heart beat a tattoo on my ribs.
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British. an outdoor military pageant or display.
noun
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the act or practice of marking the skin with indelible patterns, pictures, legends, etc., by making punctures in it and inserting pigments.
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a pattern, picture, legend, etc., so made.
verb (used with object)
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to mark (the skin) with tattoos.
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to put (tattoos) on the skin.
noun
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(formerly) a signal by drum or bugle ordering the military to return to their quarters
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a military display or pageant, usually at night
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any similar beating on a drum, etc
verb
noun
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a design made by this process
-
the practice of tattooing
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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tattoosimple
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tattoossimple
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have tattooedperfect
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has tattooedperfect
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am tattooingprogressive
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are tattooingprogressive
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is tattooingprogressive
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have been tattooingperfect progressive
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has been tattooingperfect progressive
Past
-
tattooedsimple
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had tattooedperfect
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was tattooingprogressive
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were tattooingprogressive
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had been tattooingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of tattoo1
First recorded in 1570–80; earlier taptoo, from Dutch taptoe, literally, “shut tap,” from tap “spigot, tap” + toe “closed, shut”; cognate with tap 2 ( def. ), to ( def. )
Origin of tattoo2
First recorded in 1760–70; from Marquesan tatu; replacing tattow, from Tahitian tatau
Explanation
A tattoo is a permanent design made on skin with a needle and ink. If you want a butterfly tattoo but you're scared of needles, you might settle for a temporary version. The word tattoo is also a verb meaning stain the skin using needles and ink. It's probably a good idea to wait until you've been dating someone for more than a week before you tattoo their name on your arm. In music, a tattoo is continuous drumming, and a military tattoo is a drum or bugle that signals soldiers to return to their quarters at the end of the day.
Vocabulary lists containing tattoo
"The Tell-Tale Heart," Vocabulary from the short story
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Commonly Misspelled Words, List 1
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Cormac McCarthy's "The Road"
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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.
See Examples For:
At least one image captures a tattoo of the name “David” in red ink on Hernandez’s finger.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026
The judge was shown photographs of a red-ink tattoo reading "Celeste" on Burke's left ring finger, as well as a "Shhh..." tattoo on his right index finger.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
However, his campaign was dogged by scandal, most notably including the revelation that he had a Totenkopf tattoo and allegations of “unsettling” behavior from past girlfriends.
From Salon ● Jul. 18, 2026
Power forward Sandro Mamukelashvili could become a fan favorite, in part because of the tattoo he has on his lower left leg — a No. 24 in honor of Kobe Bryant.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 13, 2026
He leans over and whispers, “What’s her tattoo of?”
From "Shouting at the Rain" by Lynda Mullaly Hunt
Only a mint green handbag and full sleeves of tattoos suggested that Gen Z’s reigning rock star had settled in to talk about his new album “Oh Yeah?”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026
The concept allows customers to book a set amount of time with an artist and get as many small tattoos as they want during the session.
From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026
Johnson’s carapace is detailed with skin-like textures, swollen bicep veins and living tattoos that offer him encouragement and advice.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 9, 2026
“If there aren’t fans that are putting tattoos of your lyrics on their body, you might be having a problem.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 27, 2026
They remind me of Emery’s tattoos, but so much more detailed and colorful.
From "Starfish" by Akemi Dawn Bowman
Jared Diaz, 35, has OpenAI’s and Codex’s logos tattooed on his wrist.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
I asked her if she would initial my wrist, and I got it tattooed the same night.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2026
He didn’t have skeletons just in his closet; he had one tattooed on his chest.
From Slate ● Jul. 7, 2026
It’s a strange request, but Aaron plays along until Hank asks about the word “diablo” tattooed by Aaron’s eyebrow, a piece of ink Aaron makes explicitly clear he does not want to discuss.
From Salon ● Jun. 15, 2026
Sefia recognized her from the legends about the Current: a stalwart sailor with skin like sunlight on honey and arms tattooed with birds and flowers.
From "The Reader" by Traci Chee
When he started tattooing in 2004, he used the pseudonym Sunrat Tattoo, and ran his first studio out of a basement.
From BBC ● May 29, 2026
“You’re not tattooing your face. You’re painting your walls,” she says as a way to encourage others to experiment.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 21, 2026
While he sported multiple tattoos, these days “people are tattooing their entire faces—and then having surgery to remove their lips and ears, so they look like aliens.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2025
However, she warned that this sort of tattooing could be complex.
From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2025
They scrubbed him so much that the arabesques of his tattooing began to fade.
From "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
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.
