tattoos

Noun (1)

tattoo (plural tattoos or (uncommon) tattooes)

1. An image made on a body part, usually the skin with ink and a needle.
   • His shirt sleeves were turned up, so upon his brawny arms his tattooes were visible.[1890], John Law [pseudonym; Margaret Harkness], “George, the Caretaker”, in A City Girl. A Realistic Story., 2nd edition, London: Authors’ Co-operative Publishing Co., Ltd. […], →OCLC, page 21...
2. A method of decorating a body part, usually the skin, by inserting colored substances under the surface with a sharp instrument (usually a solenoid-driven needle).

Noun (2)

tattoo (countable and uncountable, plural tattoos)

1. A signal played five minutes before taps (lights out).
   • Study goes on until tattoo, which, when Pops was at the Point, was sounded at 9.30, followed by taps at 10.2017, Charles King, Cadet Days
2. A signal by drum or bugle ordering soldiers to return to their quarters.
   • The bumblebee's mane glowed in the morning light—each hair sharp and distinct to Eragon—and its blurred wings generated a gentle bombilation, like a tattoo played on a drum.2008, Christopher Paolini, “Rider and Ra'zac”, in Brisingr, page 69
3. A military display or pageant.
4. A rhythmic tapping.
   • the right hand became restless and began to beat out a silent tattoo upon the tabletop1935, Dorothy L. Sayers, Gaudy Night

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