Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition

Noun.

[

Tar

palling

a covering, pall to cover. See

a covering.]

A piece of canvas covered with tar or a waterproof composition, used for covering the hatches of a ship, hammocks, boats, etc.

A hat made of, or covered with, painted or tarred cloth, worn by sailors and others.

Hence, a sailor; a seaman; a tar.

To a landsman, these

tarpaulins

, as they were called, seemed a strange and half-savage race.

Macaulay.

Noun.

[from tar.] A piece of canvas well daubed with tar, and used to cover the hatchways of a ship to prevent rain or water from entering the hold.

A sailor; in contempt.