from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Tarpaulin \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.
[1913 Webster]
2. A hat made of, or covered with, painted or tarred cloth,
worn by sailors and others.
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3. Hence, a sailor; a seaman; a tar.
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To a landsman, these tarpaulins, as they were
called, seemed a strange and half-savage race.
--Macaulay.
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