What does tarp mean?
A tarp is a large, usually waterproof sheet of plastic, canvas, or similar material used to protect objects from rain, wind, dust, sunlight, and handling. It is commonly placed over vehicles, building materials, equipment, cargo, and goods stored outdoors. The verb tarp means to cover or secure something with such a sheet, as in “They tarped the load before the truck left.” Tarp is especially common in North American English but is also well established in British English, particularly in practical and working contexts. It conveys a utilitarian tone rather than a formal or decorative one, and it is often the shorter, more familiar counterpart to tarpaulin. The word is useful because it names both a familiar object and a simple action: the sheet itself and the protective covering made with it. Its modern history is also distinctive, since it developed as a direct shortening of the older and much longer word tarpaulin.
A large, removable, usually waterproof sheet used to cover or protect objects from the weather, dirt, or other damage.
"The workers pulled a tarp over the stack of lumber."
Common in British and American English; tarpaulin is the longer and often more formal alternative.
To cover or protect something with a tarp.
"We tarped the machinery before leaving it outside."
The past tense is tarped and the present participle is tarping.
The standard plural adds -s; tarps is also commonly used as a verb form in phrases such as “tarps over.”
"Several old tarps were folded and stored in the shed."
Tarp is the clipped, everyday form of tarpaulin—a word so long that everyday English decided to shorten it.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does tarp come from?
Tarp is an early-20th-century shortening of tarpaulin, probably first used in North American English. The longer form is older and has a more complicated internal history whose final element is not securely explained, but the relationship between tarpaulin and tarp is clear. Tarpaulin is therefore the source word, while tarp became the everyday abbreviated form.
Related word forms
How tarp is actually used
Tarp is standard in practical, informal contexts in both British and American English. British speakers commonly pronounce it without a final rhotic sound, /tɑːp/, while American English normally has the /r/. Tarpaulin is often preferred in more formal or descriptive writing.
Easily confused with tarp
A tar is a thick, sticky substance made from petroleum or wood, whereas a tarp is a sheet of material used as a cover.
A trap is a device for capturing someone or something, while a tarp is a sheet used for protection or shelter.