n. [ OE. tente, F. tente, LL. tenta, fr. L. tendere, tentum, to stretch. See Tend to move, and cf. Tent a roll of lint. ] 1. A pavilion or portable lodge consisting of skins, canvas, or some strong cloth, stretched and sustained by poles, -- used for sheltering persons from the weather, especially soldiers in camp. [ 1913 Webster ]

Within his tent, large as is a barn. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Her.) The representation of a tent used as a bearing. [ 1913 Webster ]

Tent bed, a high-post bedstead curtained with a tentlike canopy. --
Tent caterpillar (Zool.), any one of several species of gregarious caterpillars which construct on trees large silken webs into which they retreat when at rest. Some of the species are very destructive to fruit trees. The most common American species is the larva of a bombycid moth (Clisiocampa Americana). Called also lackery caterpillar, and webworm. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ OF. tenter. See Tempt. ] To probe or to search with a tent; to keep open with a tent; as, to tent a wound. Used also figuratively. [ 1913 Webster ]

I'll tent him to the quick. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Sp. tinto, properly, deep-colored, fr. L. tinctus, p. p. of tingere to dye. See Tinge, and cf. Tint, Tinto. ] A kind of wine of a deep red color, chiefly from Galicia or Malaga in Spain; -- called also tent wine, and tinta. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Tented; p. pr. & vb. n. Tenting. ] To lodge as a tent; to tabernacle. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

We 're tenting to-night on the old camp ground. W. Kittredge. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. tente. See Tent to probe. ] (Surg.) (a) A roll of lint or linen, or a conical or cylindrical piece of sponge or other absorbent, used chiefly to dilate a natural canal, to keep open the orifice of a wound, or to absorb discharges. (b) A probe for searching a wound. [ 1913 Webster ]

The tent that searches
To the bottom of the worst. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

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n. [ Cf. Attent, n. ] 1. Attention; regard, care. [ Obs. or Prov. Eng. & Scot. ] Lydgate. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Intention; design. [ Prov. Eng. ] Halliwell. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To attend to; to heed; hence, to guard; to hinder. [ Prov. Eng. & Scot. ] Halliwell. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ NL. tentaculum, from L. tentare to handle, feel: cf. F. tentacule. See Tempt. ] (Zool.) A more or less elongated process or organ, simple or branched, proceeding from the head or cephalic region of invertebrate animals, being either an organ of sense, prehension, or motion. [ 1913 Webster ]

Tentacle sheath (Zool.), a sheathlike structure around the base of the tentacles of many mollusks. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. (Zool.) Having tentacles. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. F. tentaculaire. ] (Zool.) Of or pertaining to a tentacle or tentacles. [ 1913 Webster ]