tabloid definition - Dictionary

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	table-hop

	table knife

	table licence

	table linen

	table manners

	table mat

	table money

	Table Mountain

	table salt

	table soccer

	table talk

	table tennis

	table wine

	tableau

	tableau curtain

	tableau vivant

	tablecloth

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tabloid

tab·loid [ táb lòyd ]

noun (plural tab·loids)

Definition:

1. small newspaper with short articles: a small-format popular newspaper with a simple style, many photographs, and sometimes an emphasis on sensational stories

2. condensed piece of writing: a piece of writing, especially a news story, in a condensed form

adjective

Definition:

sensationalist: relating to or characteristic of tabloid newspapers, especially in having a popular sensationalist style

[Late 19th century. < proprietary name for tablets of condensed medicine]

Word History


	Tabloid was registered as a proprietary name for a brand of tablet in 1884 by Burroughs, Wellcome, and Company. It was the underlying notion of "compression" or "condensation" that led to its application to newspapers of small page size and "condensed" versions of news stories that emerged at the beginning of the 20th century.