a protective covering of canvas or other material waterproofed with tar, paint, or wax.
2.
a hat, especially a sailor's, made of or covered with such material.
3.
Rare. a sailor.
Origin
1595-1605; earlier tarpauling. See tar1, pall1, -ing1
Examples from the web for tarpaulin
Blue tarpaulin and chain-link fences are coming down.
Mineral sands, such as zircon, sit under a tarpaulin.
Or spread tarpaulin at dropping time, knock off all fruit, and dispose of it.
Many will remain in tents and under tarpaulin construction of any kind.
Many refugees are sheltering under makeshift tarpaulin structures.
The hole in the ship was later covered with a white tarpaulin.
It would go on top of the wood fire blazing inside the blue tarpaulin that makes the walls of his home.
Dead needles must be shaken out and the trees must be shipped either in an enclosed truck or covered with a tarpaulin.
Along the side motorcycles are parked under a tarpaulin.
It has a buckboard wide enough for two, a tarpaulin cover and room in the back for four people to sit or stretch out.
British Dictionary definitions for tarpaulin
tarpaulin
/tɑːˈpɔːlɪn/
noun
1.
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
2.
a sheet of this fabric
3.
a hat of or covered with this fabric, esp a sailor's hat
c.1600, from tar (n.1) + palling, from pall "heavy cloth covering" (see pall (n.)); probably so called because the canvas is sometimes coated in tar to make it waterproof.