tandem

Syllables: tan·demUK/ˈtændəm//ˈtændəm/

tandem noun: a carriage pulled by two or more draught animals (generally draught horses) harnessed one behind the other, both providing pulling power but only the animal in front being able to steer. Also the ellipsis of tandem bicycle.

Noun

tandem (countable and uncountable, plural tandems)

(also, attributive, countable) A carriage pulled by two or more draught animals (generally draught horses) harnessed one behind the other, both providing pulling power but only the animal in front being able to steer.
- [H]e was a man whose head was at this time entirely full of gigs, and tandems, and unicorns: business was his aversion; pleasure was his business.1804, Maria Edgeworth, “The Contrast. Chapter II. Ignorance of Things, into which It is a Duty to Enquire, is the Cause of Many Odious Vices.”, in Popular Tales, volume III, London: Printed for...
- A friend of mine accompanies me in my carriage to Edinburgh. There we shall leave it, and proceed in a tandem (a species of open carriage) through the western passes to Inverary, where we shall purchase shelties, to enable us to view places inaccessible to vehicular conveyances.1807 August 11, Lord Byron, “Letter XVII. To Miss ——.”, in Thomas Moore, editor, Letters and Journals of Lord Byron: With Notices of His Life, […], volume I, London: John Murray, […], published 1830...
(also, attributive, broadly) Two draught animals (generally draught horses) harnessed one behind the other.
- Later in the day the Row is empty, but, on the other hand, the pleasure horse monopolises the circle, now comparatively deserted. Singly, in pairs, tandems, and fours, he draws the family carriage with a lozenge on the panels, the brougham of the fashionable doctor, the coupé of the popular...[1903], Charles Dudley, “Equine London”, in George R[obert] Sims, editor, Living London: Its Work and Its Play, Its Humour and Its Pathos, Its Sights and Its Scenes, special edition, volume II...
(also, attributive, broadly) A thing with two components arranged one behind the other.
- If you want a canoe that can seat both of you comfortably, you’ll need a tandem.
(also, attributive, broadly) A hollow metal tube containing radioactive material, inserted through the vagina into the uterus to treat gynecological cancer.
- If an interstitial implant is placed in a patient with an intact uterus, a tandem should be inserted and loaded with cesium 137 or iridium 192.2007, Akila N. Viswanathan, Daniel G. Petereit, “Gynecologic Brachytherapy”, in Phillip M. Devlin, editor, Brachytherapy: Applications and Techniques, Philadelphia, Pa.: Lippincott Williams &...
(also, attributive, countable, figuratively) A group of two or more machines, people, etc., working together; hence (uncountable), close collaboration.
- Stubb's whale had been killed some distance from the ship. It was a calm; so, forming a tandem of three boats, we commenced the slow business of towing the trophy to the Pequod.1851 November 14, Herman Melville, “Stubb’s Supper”, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC, page 324
(also, attributive, figuratively, uncountable) A method of language learning based on mutual exchange, where ideally each learner is a native speaker in the language the other person wants to learn.
- Spanish and English tandem learners discuss the meaning of a given word in a semi-structured conversation. […] Tandem learning is the term used to describe the learning which takes place when native speakers and learners of each other's language learn from each other and help each other learn. […]...2007, Jane Woodin, “Intercultural Positioning: Tandem Conversations about Word Meaning”, in Regina Weinert, editor, Spoken Language Pragmatics: An Analysis of Form-Function Relations, London; New...

Adverb

tandem (not comparable)

(also, attributive) One behind the other; in single file.
- The horses were harnessed tandem.
- to ride tandem on a bicycle built for two
Synonyms:

in tandem
(also, attributive, figuratively) In close collaboration; collaboratively, cooperatively.

Adjective

tandem (not comparable)

(also, attributive) With two components arranged one behind the other.
- tandem canoe tandem engine
(also, attributive, figuratively) Working together collaboratively; collaborative, cooperative.
- Their skillful tandem work made the project quick and successful.

Verb

tandem (third-person singular simple present tandems, present participle tandeming, simple past and past participle tandemed)

(also, ambitransitive, attributive) Synonym of tandemize (“(transitive) to harness or drive (two draught animals, generally draught horses) one behind the other; to set up (two or more things, such as pieces or equipment) to work in tandem or together; (intransitive) to drive a tandem (‘carriage pulled by two or more draught animals (generally draught horses) harnessed one behind the other’)”)
- [O]ur dog-cart having come to hand, from the hilliness of the road, we tandemed the ten miles due west, along the southern shore of Clew Bay.1861, “a retired civil engineer” [pseudonym], “Westport—The Killeries”, in Ierne. Or, Anecdotes and Incidents during a Life Chiefly in Ireland. […] (First Series), London: Partridge and Co., […]...
- And sometimes these nymphs [on frescoes] are tandeming the daintiest little gryphons so pleasantly that one longs (in the dream) to be with them, not fearing a reverse.1866 May 1, “Visits to the Paradise of Artists. IV. Pompeii.—The Enchanting Sights and Disenchanting Sounds of Naples.—Capri.”, in The Art-Journal, volume V (New Series), London: Virtue & Co., page...
Synonyms:

tandemize

Also used as

tandem is also the ellipsis of tandem bicycle.

tandem meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

tandem in Hindi

टेंडम, टंडेम

tandem in Tamil

டேண்டம்

tandem in Marathi

टेंडम

tandem in Urdu

ٹینڈم, ٹینڈیم

More languagesFewer languages

tandem in Bengali: ট্যান্ডেম, ট্যানডেম, টান্ডেম
tandem in Telugu: ట్యాండెమ్
tandem in Malayalam: ടാണ്ടം
tandem in Kannada: ಟ್ಯಾಂಡೆಮ್, ಟಂಡೆಮ್
tandem in Punjabi: ਟੈਨਡਮ
tandem in Gujarati: ટેંડમ
tandem in Odia: ଟାଣ୍ଡେମ୍, ଟାଣ୍ଡେମ
tandem in Nepali: ट्यान्डम, टेन्डम, ट्यान्डेम
tandem in Tagalog: angkas

Examples of tandem in a sentence

There were two seats in tandem, each of which could hold three.1956 October, Isaac Asimov, chapter II, in The Naked Sun, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday & Company, published 1957, →OCLC, page 27:
Hendee is located at the New Marlboro', and is tandeming with his lady friends through the Newtons daily.1886 July 9, “Pencilled Paragraphs”, in The Cycle, volume I, number 15, Boston, Mass.: Abbot Bassett, →OCLC, page 263, column 3:
Cadman gives a humorous description of their journey, as they tandemed the donkey to drag their impedimenta up the slope of 1,200 feet.1898 July 16, “The Gentle Art. Harry Druidale, Fisherman, from Manxland to England. By Henry Cadman. London: Macmillan & Co. [book...
[A]n excessively dissipative error cancellation delay line is unacceptable, since that line directly tandems the main power amplifier.1971 November, H. Seidel, “A Microwave Feed-forward Experiment”, in The Bell System Technical Journal, volume 50, number 9, New York, N.Y....

All 36 example sentences with tandem

Synonyms of tandem

Forms of tandem

Noun
plural	tandems
Verb
third-person singular present	tandems
present participle	tandeming
past participle	tandemed
past	tandemed

Plural of tandem: tandems

Origin of tandem

PIE word *téh₂m The noun is borrowed from Latin tandem (“of time: at last, at length, finally”), applied humorously in English to two horses harnessed “at length” (that is, in a single line) instead of side-by-side. Tandem is derived from tam (“so, to such an extent”) + -dem (demonstrative suffix). The adjective, adverb, and verb are derived from the noun.

Words formed from tandem

Phrases with tandem

Words that rhyme with tandem

Questions about tandem

What does tandem mean?: Tandem means a carriage pulled by two or more draught animals (generally draught horses) harnessed one behind the other, both providing pulling power but only the animal in front being able to steer.
What is tandem in Hindi?: Tandem in Hindi is टेंडम, टंडेम. See Tandem meaning in Hindi.
How do you use tandem in a sentence?: There were two seats in tandem, each of which could hold three.
What part of speech is tandem?: Tandem can be a noun, an adverb, an adjective or a verb.
How do you pronounce tandem?: Tandem is pronounced /ˈtændəm/ (UK).
What is the plural of tandem?: The plural of tandem is tandems.

Words near tandem in the dictionary

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-tandem.ogg.

Cite this entry: “tandem.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/tandem. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.