# tent

Pronunciation: say "TENT" /tɛnt/

## Noun

1. A portable shelter of canvas or other strong cloth stretched over poles, used to protect people from the weather.
   - Simple: A shelter made of cloth held up by poles, used outdoors for sleeping or staying dry.
   - _The scouts pitched their tents in a clearing before nightfall._
   - _A sudden gust flattened the tent we had staked at the summit._
5. A piece of fabric that protrudes outward in a tent-like peak where something beneath presses against it, as in a trouser tent.
   - Simple: A bit of fabric that sticks out in a peak because something underneath pushes it up.
   - _A faint tent formed in the bedsheet over his bent leg._
   - _Something beneath the tablecloth pushed it up into a small tent._
7. A roll of lint or linen, or a piece of sponge or other absorbent material, used to dilate a body canal, hold a wound open, or absorb discharge.
   - Simple: A roll of cloth or sponge placed in a wound or body opening to soak up fluid or keep it open.
   - _The nurse changed the tent packed into the abscess each morning._
   - _Surgeons once used a tent of dried sponge to widen the passage gradually._
8. A slender probe used to explore or search a wound.
   - Simple: A thin tool that doctors push into a wound to feel how deep it goes.
   - _The surgeon passed a tent gently along the wound channel._
   - _With a fine tent the doctor located the lodged splinter._
10. A portable pulpit set up outdoors to serve worshippers who cannot fit inside the church. *(dialectal, Scotland)*
   - Simple: A movable outdoor pulpit used so a preacher can reach a crowd too big for the church.
   - _The congregation overflowed into the field, so the elders raised a tent for the sermon._
   - _From the tent the preacher could be heard across the whole gathering._

## Verb

2. To go camping, typically sleeping outdoors in a tent.
   - Simple: To sleep outdoors in a tent, often on a camping trip.
   - _Each August they tent along the rugged coast for a week._
   - _We prefer to tent rather than rent a cabin._
3. To form or rise into a shape resembling a tent.
   - Simple: To rise up into a peak, like the top of a tent.
   - _Loose fabric tents wherever something props it up from below._
   - _Pull the canvas taut so it does not tent over the frame._
4. To drape aluminum foil in an inverted V shape over food, reducing splatter before placing it in the oven.
   - Simple: To loosely cover food with foil bent into a peak, so it does not splatter in the oven.
   - _Tent the chicken loosely with foil to keep grease off the oven walls._
   - _He tented the casserole so the top wouldn't burn before the inside cooked._
6. To fumigate a building or space, treating it with toxic fumes to destroy pests.
   - Simple: To fill a closed building with gas to kill insects or other pests.
   - _The company will tent the property next week to eliminate the infestation._
   - _Crews tent infested homes and pump in gas for several days._
9. To probe or explore a wound using a tent, or to hold a wound open with one.
   - Simple: To probe a wound with a thin tool, or to hold it open with one.
   - _Surgeons tent the deep gash to check for splinters._
   - _They tent the opening daily so it heals from the bottom up._

## Noun

11. A representation of a tent borne as a heraldic charge on a shield or coat of arms. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: A picture of a tent shown on a coat of arms or shield.
   - _The herald blazoned a white tent on the blue field of the shield._
   - _An ancestral tent appears as the central charge on the family arms._
12. Intention or purpose; the aim or design behind an action. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: A plan or purpose in someone's mind, or what they mean to do.
   - _Their tent was honest, whatever the outcome of the venture._
   - _He pursued his tent with quiet determination through every setback._
13. A deep red wine, made chiefly in Galicia or Malaga in Spain. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: A deep red Spanish wine, made long ago mainly in Galicia and Malaga.
   - _She preferred a glass of tent with her evening meal._
   - _Casks of Spanish tent arrived at the harbor each autumn._
14. Attention, regard, or care given to something or someone. *(archaic, Scotland, UK)*
   - Simple: The care or attention you give to something.
   - _Take tent of the steep path after dark._
   - _He paid no tent to the gossip around the village._

## Verb

15. To attend to something; to give it heed or notice. *(archaic, Scotland, UK)*
   - Simple: To pay careful attention to something or take notice of it.
16. To guard or protect; to hinder or block. *(archaic, Scotland, UK)*
   - Simple: To guard something, or to get in the way and stop it.
   - _Guards tent the bridge so none may cross at night._
   - _Thick brush will tent the way through the glen._

## Origin

**Meanings 1–6, 10–11** — From Middle English tente, borrowed from Old French tente, from Vulgar Latin *tenta, from the feminine of Latin tentus, the past participle of tendere ("to stretch, extend"). It displaced the native Old English word teld ("tent").
**Meanings 12, 14–16** — From Middle English tent ("attention"), a shortened variation of attent ("attention"), from Old French atente, from Latin attenta, the feminine of attentus, the past participle of attendere ("to attend").
**Meanings 7–9** — From Middle English tente ("a probe"), from Middle French tente, formed from the verb tenter, from Latin tentāre ("to probe, test"), an alteration of temptāre ("to test, probe, tempt").
**Meaning 13** — From Spanish tinto ("deep-colored"), from Latin tīnctus, the past participle of tingo ("to dye"). It is a doublet of tint and tinto.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/tent (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).