tarpaulin

Tar*pau"lin, n. Etym: [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. 2. A hat made of, or covered with, painted or tarred cloth, worn by sailors and others. 3. Hence, a sailor; a seaman; a tar. To a landsman, these tarpaulins, as they were called, seemed a strange and half-savage race. Macaulay.

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