Noun

(en noun)

(countable) A heavy, waterproof sheet of material, often cloth, used as a cover.

Throw a tarpaulin over that woodpile before it gets wet.

(countable, slang, archaic) A sailor. Often abbreviated to just tar.

(uncountable, obsolete) Any heavy, waterproof material used as a cover.

(uncountable, nautical, obsolete) Canvas waterproofed with tar, used as a cover.

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

Noun

(en noun)

A cloth or garment worn around the waist.

* {{quote-book, year=1791, author=Alexandre (fils) Dumas, title=The Son of Clemenceau, chapter=, edition= citation

, passage=Two rows of slate beds, three of which only were occupied; two men and a boy, nude save a waistcloth ; over their heads--sluggishly swayed by the air the new-comer had carelessly admitted--their clothes were hung like shapeless shadows. }}

* {{quote-book, year=1897, author=Frank T. Bullen, title=The Cruise of the Cachalot, chapter=, edition= citation

, passage=He was dressed in all the dignity of a woollen shirt, with a piece of fine "tapa" for a waistcloth , feet and legs bare. }}

* {{quote-book, year=1916, author=Joseph Altsheler, title=The Hunters of the Hills, chapter=, edition= citation

, passage=Fresh leaves had been stripped from a bush and a tiny fragment or two indicated that the Ojibway had torn a piece from his deerskin waistcloth to fasten over the leaves. }}

(nautical) A covering of canvas or tarpaulin for the hammocks, stowed on the nettings, between the quarterdeck and the forecastle.

(Webster 1913)