tandem

plural tandems

1. alsoattributivecountableA 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.First known use mid 18th c.

   [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 J[oseph] Johnson, […], [b]y C. Mercier and Co., […], →OCLC, page 30

   3 more examples

   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, →OCLC, pages 118–119

   Mr. Foker was no more like a gentleman now than in his school days: and yet Pen felt a secret pride in strutting down High Street with a young fellow who owned tandems, talked to officers, and ordered turtle and champagne for dinner.

   1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, “In which Pendennis Appears as a Very Young Man Indeed”, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume I, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849, →OCLC, page 31

   The chief characteristic of this set was the most reckless extravagance of every kind. […] They drove tandems in all directions, scattering their ample allowances, which they treated as pocket money, about roadside inns and Oxford taverns with open hand, and going tick for every thing which could by possibility be booked.

   1859–1861, [Thomas Hughes], “St. Ambrose’s College”, in Tom Brown at Oxford: […], part 1st, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor and Fields, published 1861, →OCLC, page 3

2. alsoattributivebroadlycountableuncountableTwo draught animals (generally draught horses) harnessed one behind the other.

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   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 actress, the man about town's smart dog-cart.

   [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, section I, London: Cassell and Company, →OCLC, pages 158–159, column 2

3. alsoattributivebroadlycountableuncountableA 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.

   1. abbreviationalsoattributivebroadlycountableellipsisspecificallyuncountablecyclingEllipsis of tandem bicycle (“a bicycle or tricycle in which two people sit one behind the other, both able to pedal but only the person in front being able to steer”).First known use late 19th c.
4. alsoattributivebroadlycountableuncountablemedicineA 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 & Wilkins, →ISBN, page 236

5. alsoattributivecountablefigurativelyA 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

6. alsoattributivefigurativelyuncountableeducationA 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.

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   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. […] Tandem learners are responsible for identifying their own needs, setting their own goals and finding means to achieve them.

   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 York, N.Y.: Continuum, →ISBN, page 208

1. alsoattributivenot comparableOne behind the other; in single file.

   The horses were harnessed tandem.

   2 more examples

   to ride tandem on a bicycle built for two

   There was nothing too exotic about the ground-car. 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

   Synonyms: in tandem

2. alsoattributivefigurativelynot comparableIn close collaboration; collaboratively, cooperatively.

1. alsoattributivenot comparableWith two components arranged one behind the other.

   tandem canoe    tandem engine

2. alsoattributivefigurativelynot comparableWorking together collaboratively; collaborative, cooperative.

   Their skillful tandem work made the project quick and successful.

present singular third person tandems · participle present tandeming · participle past tandemed · past tandemed

1. alsoambitransitiveattributiveSynonym 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’)”)

   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

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   [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., […], →OCLC, page 208

   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 129, column 2

   Mr. 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 review]”, in [Thomas Wemyss Reid], editor, The Speaker, London: The Speaker Office, →OCLC, page 87

   [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.: American Telephone and Telegraph Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 2892

   Charlotte, who I had not yet had the chance to do more than talk to, was tandeming [on a tandem bicycle] with George but each was accusing the other of not putting in their fare share of the pedalling.

   1989, Andrew Scott [pseudonym; Lionel Trapes?], chapter 3, in The Oyster, volume IV, New York, N.Y.: Blue Moon Books, published 2006, →ISBN, page 80

   Synonyms: tandemize