tandem

noun

1. (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.”

   “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.”

   “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.”

   “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.”

2. (also, attributive, broadly, countable, uncountable)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 actress, the man about town's smart dog-cart.”

3. (also, attributive, broadly, countable, uncountable)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.”

4. (abbreviation, also, alt-of, attributive, broadly, countable, ellipsis, specifically, uncountable)A thing with two components arranged one behind the other.
5. (also, attributive, broadly, countable, uncountable)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.”

6. (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.”

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

adv

1. (also, attributive, not-comparable)One behind the other; in single file.

   “The horses were harnessed tandem.”

   “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.”

2. (also, attributive, figuratively, not-comparable)In close collaboration; collaboratively, cooperatively.

adj

1. (also, attributive, not-comparable)With two components arranged one behind the other.

   “tandem canoe    tandem engine”

2. (also, attributive, figuratively, not-comparable)Working together collaboratively; collaborative, cooperative.

   “Their skillful tandem work made the project quick and successful.”

verb

1. (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.”

   “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.”

   “Hendee is located at the New Marlboro', and is tandeming with his lady friends through the Newtons daily.”

   “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.”

   “[A]n excessively dissipative error cancellation delay line is unacceptable, since that line directly tandems the main power amplifier.”