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countable and uncountable, plural tartans
A kind of woven woollen cloth with a distinctive pattern of coloured stripes intersecting at right angles, associated with Scottish Highlanders, different clans and some Scottish families and institutions having their own distinctive patterns. examples
The pattern associated with such material. examples
An individual or a group wearing tartan; a Highlander or Scotsman in general. examples
Trade name of a synthetic resin, used for surfacing tracks etc. examples
comparative more tartan, superlative most tartan
Having a pattern like a tartan. quotations examples
... my pupils leave off their thick shoes and tight old tartan pelisses, and wear silk stockings and muslin frocks, as fashionable baronets' daughters should.
1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 11, in Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848
In the second row of the cavalcade were Francie, Fanny's god-daughter, now thirteen years old and already elegant in long frilled pantalettes, tartan skirts, and a leghorn hat with streamers, …
1929, M. Barnard Eldershaw, A House is Built, Chapter IX, Section iii
(humorous) Scottish. examples
third-person singular simple present tartans, present participle tartaning, simple past and past participle tartaned
(transitive) To clothe in tartan. examples
plural tartans
A type of one-masted lateen-sailed vessel used in the Mediterranean. quotations examples
Hakkabut hereupon descended into the hold of the tartan, and soon returned, carrying ten packets of tobacco, each weighing one kilogramme, and securely fastened by strips of paper, labelled with the French Government stamp.
1877, Jules Verne, Ellen E. Frewer (translator), Hector Servadac, Part 2, Chapter X: Market Prices in Gallia
When we were watching Massena, off Genoa, we got a matter of seventy schooners, brigs, and tartans, with wine, food, and powder.
1896, Arthur Conan Doyle, Rodney Stone, Chapter IV: The Peace of Amiens
(historical) A kind of long covered carriage.