NOUN (3)

1. a drumbeat or bugle call that signals the military to return to their quarters;

2. a design on the skin made by tattooing;

3. the practice of making a design on the skin by pricking and staining;


VERB (1)

1. stain (skin) with indelible color;

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Tattoo \Tat*too"\, n.; pl. Tattoos.
   An indelible mark or figure made by puncturing the skin and
   introducing some pigment into the punctures; -- a mode of
   ornamentation practiced by various barbarous races, both in
   ancient and modern times, and also by some among civilized
   nations, especially by sailors.
   [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Tattoo \Tat*too"\, n. [Earlier taptoo, D. taptoe; tap a tap,
   faucet + toe to, shut (i. e., the taps, or drinking houses,
   shut from the soldiers).] (Mil.)
   A beat of drum, or sound of a trumpet or bugle, at night,
   giving notice to soldiers to retreat, or to repair to their
   quarters in garrison, or to their tents in camp.
   [1913 Webster]

   The Devil's tattoo. See under Devil.
      [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Tattoo \Tat*too"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Tattooed; p. pr. & vb.
   n. Tattooing.] [Of Polynesian origin; cf. New Zealand ta to
   tattoo, tatu puncturation (in Otaheite).]
   To color, as the flesh, by pricking in coloring matter, so as
   to form marks or figures which can not be washed out.
   [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

tattoo
    n 1: a drumbeat or bugle call that signals the military to
         return to their quarters
    2: a design on the skin made by tattooing
    3: the practice of making a design on the skin by pricking and
       staining
    v 1: stain (skin) with indelible color

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

263 Moby Thesaurus words for "tattoo":
   band, bang, bar, barrage, bash, bat, bay, beat, beating, beep,
   belt, bespangle, bespeckle, bespot, biff, birthmark, blare, blast,
   blat, blaze, blaze a trail, blemish, blotch, blow, bonk, bowshot,
   brand, bray, bullet, cannon, caste mark, ceaselessness, chalk,
   chalk up, chattering, check, check off, checker, checkmark, chop,
   cicatrix, cicatrize, clip, clout, clump, constancy, constant flow,
   continualness, continuity, crack, cut, dapple, dash, define,
   delimit, demarcate, detonation, dig, dint, discharge, discolor,
   discoloration, dot, drizzle, drub, drubbing, drum, drum music,
   drumbeat, drumfire, drumming, earmark, ejection, engrave,
   engraving, fall, fanfare, flake, fleck, flick,
   flourish of trumpets, flutter, freckle, fusillade, gash, graving,
   gun, gunfire, gunshot, hack, harlequin, hatch, hit, honk, impress,
   imprint, incessancy, iris, jab, jot, knock, lentigo, lick, line,
   macula, maculate, make a mark, marble, marbleize, mark, mark off,
   mark out, marking, mizzle, mole, motley, mottle, nevus, nick,
   noninterruption, notch, oscillation, palpitation, paradiddle,
   patch, patter, peal, pelt, pencil, pepper, perpetuity, pitapat,
   pitter-patter, plunk, point, poke, polka dot, polychrome,
   polychromize, potshot, pound, pounding, pour, pour with rain,
   precipitate, prick, print, pulsation, punch, punctuate, puncture,
   quick fire, rain, rain tadpoles, rainbow, rap, rapid fire,
   rapid recurrence, rapid succession, rapidity, rat-a-tat, rat-tat,
   rat-tat-tat, rataplan, rattattoo, regularity, repetition, riddle,
   roll, rub-a-dub, ruff, ruffle, salvo, scar, scarification, scarify,
   score, scotch, scratch, scratching, seal, seam, shot, shower,
   shower down, shriek, slam, slog, slug, smack, smash, sock, spangle,
   spatter, speck, speckle, spit, splash, splotch, splutter, spot,
   spray, sprinkle, sputter, squeal, staccato, stain, stamp,
   steadiness, stigma, stigmatize, stipple, stoneshot,
   strawberry mark, streak, stream, striate, stripe, stroke, stud,
   stuttering, sustainment, swat, swing, swipe, tantara, tantarara,
   taps, tarantara, tat-tat, tattoo mark, tessellate, throb,
   throbbing, thrum, thump, thumping, thwack, tick, tick off, tittle,
   tom-tom, toot, tootle, trace, trumpet, trumpet blast, trumpet call,
   tweedle, underline, underscore, unintermission, uninterruption,
   variegate, vein, vibration, volley, watermark, weep, whack,
   whistle, whop, yerk