Definition of "tapis" [ta•pis•tap•is]

• Obsolete Tapestry or comparable material used for draperies, carpeting, and furniture covering. (noun)
• On the tapis Under consideration. (idiom)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Tall, dark trees rose in ordered majesty about the château, and before it a wide band of lawn, called a tapis vert, ran to the lodge-gates that opened on the highroad."
• "[FOOTNOTE 26: A tapis was a small cloth or tapestry sometimes used to cover a table; hence the expression "on the tapis" meant "on the table" or "under consideration."] "You and Kilcullen don't hit it off together -- eh, Ballindine?" said"
• "There is sure to be some large picnic, some delightful gathering on the "tapis," when they choose to exhibit their griefs."