A tarpaulin is a big, heavy sheet of cloth or thick plastic that water cannot get through. You throw it over things you want to keep dry: a pile of wood, a motorbike, furniture in the back of a truck, a hole in a roof. It usually has metal rings around the edges so you can tie it down with rope. Most tarpaulins you see today are woven plastic — often blue or orange — but the original ones were canvas soaked in tar, which is where the word comes from. In everyday speech, almost nobody says the whole word. British and Australian speakers say 'tarp', and Americans say 'tarp' too; 'tarpaulin' sounds slightly formal or written, the way 'refrigerator' does next to 'fridge'. There is also an old, now rare use of 'tarpaulin' meaning a sailor — because sailors wore tarred clothes and tarred hats to stay dry. You will meet that one only in old books. As a verb, 'to tarpaulin' something (or more usually 'to tarp something over') means to cover it with one, and you will hear it most from builders and farmers.