tarpaulin
noun
tar·pau·lin
| \ tär-ˈpȯ-lən
, ˈtär-pə-; nonstandard tär-ˈpōl-yən\
, ˈtär-pə-; nonstandard tär-ˈpōl-yən\
plural tarpaulins
Definition of tarpaulin
1
: a piece of material used especially for protecting exposed objects or areas : tarp
The hatchways of some armed vessels are but poorly secured in bad weather. … They were merely spread over with an old tarpaulin, cracked and rent in every direction.— Herman Melville
2
dated
: sailor
"What does this here blessed tarpaulin go and do," said Mr. Peggotty, with his face one high noon of enjoyment, "but he loses that there art of his to our little Em'ly."— Charles Dickens The Englishman replied, like a rough tarpaulin, "They might starve; they should not plant nor build in that place."— Daniel Defoe
Examples of tarpaulin in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
People were pitching tarpaulin tents, spreading their meager belongings on the sand. — New York Times, "The Schoolteacher and the Genocide," 8 Aug. 2019 White walls, roofs or tarpaulins, and extra vegetation in cities, all of which help prevent heat from building up, can be provided fairly cheaply. — The Economist, "Heatwaves are killing people," 27 July 2019 Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh (CNN)When the monsoon rains hit southeast Bangladesh this week, Hafiz Ullah and his family abandoned their flimsy bamboo-and-tarpaulin-home to take shelter in a nearby school. — Rebecca Wright, Cnn And Salman Saeed, CNN, "Monsoon floods sweep through world's biggest refugee camp," 11 July 2019 Japanese whalers – with their harpoons concealed beneath tarpaulin – left the port cities of Kushiro and Shimonoseki on Monday for the first commercial whale hunt in more than three decades. — Fox News, "Japan resumes commercial whaling after 30 years -- despite low demand," 2 July 2019 Villagers fearing aftershocks could be seen camped by the thousands under makeshift blue tarpaulins held together with bamboo and sticks. — Todd Pitman, The Seattle Times, "In quake-hit Indonesia, a challenge to recover the dead," 7 Aug. 2018 Bamboo and tarpaulin are all that the Rohingya — hundreds of thousands of whom crossed into Bangladesh after fleeing a military crackdown in Myanmar — have as shelter from the heavy rains and cyclones that lash the region each year. — Vidhi Doshi, Washington Post, "‘Everything was destroyed’: Monsoon begins to take deadly toll on Rohingya camps in Bangladesh," 24 June 2018 Spokesman Arifin Hadi said people need clean water and tarpaulins most of all. — Andi Jatmiko, Fox News, "Third strong earthquake shakes Lombok as death toll tops 220," 9 Aug. 2018 In Arsal, where refugees number about twice as many as the town’s residents, some 70,000 Syrians live in shabby tarpaulin tents and have few legal rights, including authorization to work. — Sune Engel Rasmussen, WSJ, "Refugees Become Pawns in Syria’s Bid for Foreign Aid," 27 July 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'tarpaulin.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for tarpaulin
tarpaulin
noun
English Language Learners Definition of tarpaulin
: a large piece of waterproof material (such as plastic or canvas) that is used to cover things and keep them dry
See the full definition for tarpaulin in the English Language Learners Dictionary
tarpaulin
noun
tar·pau·lin
| \ tär-ˈpȯ-lən
, ˈtär-pə-lən\
, ˈtär-pə-lən\
Kids Definition of tarpaulin
: a sheet of waterproof canvas