tandem

CEFRB2

/ˈtændəm/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A situation where two people or things work together.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    A thing with two components arranged one behind the other.

Examples

  • He drove horses tandem out of town.

  • It was our first time riding a tandem bicycle.

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
5
Synonyms
2

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. Two draught animals (generally draught horses) harnessed one behind the other.

  2. 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.

  3. A group of two or more machines, people, etc., working together; hence (uncountable), close collaboration.

More examples

In context

  • If you want a canoe that can seat both of you comfortably, you’ll need a tandem.

  • to ride tandem on a bicycle built for two

  • The horses were harnessed tandem.

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The two strong horses pulled the heavy carriage blank along the muddy road.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

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.