tent
Pluraltents
Pluraltents
- 1A shelter made of cloth held up by poles, used outdoors for sleeping or staying dry.
Like a little cloth house you can carry and put up anywhere.
We pitched a tent beside the river for the night.
Rain leaked through the old tent during the campout.
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- 2To sleep outdoors in a tent, often on a camping trip.
We tent by the lake every summer with the kids.
They love to tent high in the mountains each fall.
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- 4To loosely cover food with foil bent into a peak, so it does not splatter in the oven.
Like putting a little roof of foil over your food.
Tent the turkey with foil so it doesn't splatter the oven.
She tented the roast before sliding it onto the rack.
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- 6To fill a closed building with gas to kill insects or other pests.
Like wrapping a house in a giant bag and filling it with bug-killing gas.
They had to tent the whole house to get rid of the termites.
Workers tent old buildings before sealing them with gas.
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- 7A roll of cloth or sponge placed in a wound or body opening to soak up fluid or keep it open.
Like a little plug of cloth that holds a hole open and soaks up liquid.
The surgeon placed a tent in the wound to keep it draining.
A small tent of sponge held the opening apart.
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- 8A thin tool that doctors push into a wound to feel how deep it goes.
Like using a stick to find out how deep a hole is.
The doctor used a tent to check how deep the cut went.
A thin tent let the surgeon feel the bottom of the wound.
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- 10A movable outdoor pulpit used so a preacher can reach a crowd too big for the church.
Like an outdoor stage for a preacher when the building is too small.
The minister preached from a tent on the grassy hillside.
A wooden tent stood in the churchyard for the crowd outside.
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- 11A picture of a tent shown on a coat of arms or shield.
Like a small drawing of a tent used as a badge on a shield.
Their family shield shows a small tent above a gold band.
He chose a tent for his coat of arms to honor his soldier ancestors.
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- 12A plan or purpose in someone's mind, or what they mean to do.
Like the plan you have in your head before you start something.
Her tent was to finish the work before winter set in.
No one could guess his tent until he finally acted.
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- 13A deep red Spanish wine, made long ago mainly in Galicia and Malaga.
Like a strong, dark red wine from Spain.
He poured a glass of tent for each guest at the table.
The merchant sold barrels of tent shipped from Spain.
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- 14The care or attention you give to something.
Like keeping a close eye on something important.
Pay tent to the road when it's icy outside.
Lo ! lo ! my frend , take tent to this womman
a. 1451, John Lydgate, The Prohemy of a Marriage betwixt and Olde Man and a Yonge WifeHere, take tent means pay attention.Note
- 15To pay careful attention to something or take notice of it.
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- 16To guard something, or to get in the way and stop it.
Like standing guard at a door to keep others out.
Two dogs tent the gate against strangers all night.
A fallen tree can tent the path for days.
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Showing meanings only.
Practice
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Origins
From Old French tente, from Latin tendere meaning "to stretch." It replaced the older English word teld.
A shortened form of Middle English attent ("attention"), which came from Latin attendere ("to attend").
From Middle French tente ("a probe"), from Latin tentāre meaning "to probe or test."
From Spanish tinto ("deep-colored"), from Latin tingo meaning "to dye."