Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Tapestry or comparable material used for draperies, carpeting, and furniture covering.
  • idiom (on the tapis) Under consideration.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To cover with ornamental figures as in tapestry; embroider.
  • To carpet; hang with tapestry; upholster.
  • noun Woolen material used for floor-cloths and hangings, as carpeting, rugs, and tapestry.
  • noun In the Philippine Islands, a broad sash of cotton or silk, about one yard wide and two yards long, worn by Tagalog and other Filipino women wrapped around the waist over the saya.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun Tapestry; formerly, the cover of a council table.
  • noun on the table, or under consideration.
  • transitive verb rare To cover or work with figures like tapestry.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Tapestry; formerly, the cover of a council table.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a heavy textile with a woven design; used for curtains and upholstery

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from Old French; see tapestry.]

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Examples

  • Tall, dark trees rose in ordered majesty about the château, and before it a wide band of lawn, called a tapis vert, ran to the lodge-gates that opened on the highroad.

    A Childhood in Brittany Eighty Years Ago 1919

  • [FOOTNOTE 26: A tapis was a small cloth or tapestry sometimes used to cover a table; hence the expression "on the tapis" meant "on the table" or "under consideration."] "You and Kilcullen don't hit it off together -- eh, Ballindine?" said

    The Kellys and the O'Kellys Anthony Trollope 1848

  • There is sure to be some large picnic, some delightful gathering on the "tapis," when they choose to exhibit their griefs.

    Lazy Thoughts of a Lazy Girl Sister of that "Idle Fellow." Jenny Wren

  • Celle des toitures est comme un tapis inégal de vieilles tuiles d'argile claire rehaussé de quelques cheminées.

    Lettres de ma Terrasse 2009

  • Celle des toitures est comme un tapis inégal de vieilles tuiles d'argile claire rehaussé de quelques cheminées.

    French Word-A-Day: 2009

  • Celle des toitures est comme un tapis inégal de vieilles tuiles d'argile claire rehaussé de quelques cheminées.

    Tante Marie-Francoise 2009

  • C'est vraiment un beau pays, très hospitalier, où vous serez tentée de faire beaucoup d'achats!!! poteries, vêtements et objets de cuir, cuivres, tapis, souvenirs de toutes sortes, etc., etc ...

    contretemps - French Word-A-Day 2009

  • Celle des toitures est comme un tapis inégal de vieilles tuiles d'argile claire rehaussé de quelques cheminées.

    French Word-A-Day: 2009

  • Celle des toitures est comme un tapis inégal de vieilles tuiles d'argile claire rehaussé de quelques cheminées.

    rubrique - French Word-A-Day 2009

  • La vidéo ci-après montre Sameer Mishra, âgée de 13 ans, qui épelle correctement le mot numnah, autre mot pour numdah, qui désigne un feutre grossier, et une selle de cheval ou un tapis brodé fabriqué dans cette matière.

    Archive 2010-07-01 Rene Meertens 2010

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