Green’s Dictionary of Slang

tat n.³

(orig. US prison) a tattoo.

1982		H. Beaton Outside In Act II: Ginny in a pretty pink dress, hair set, face set. Tatts hidden under long sleeves.
1991		M.B. ‘Chopper’ Read Chopper From The Inside 23: I am covered neck to ankle in tatts.
1992		A. Duff One Night Out Stealing 8: He thrust out a tat covered hand and exposed forearm.
2000		T. Fontana ‘You Bet Your Life’ Oz ser. 4 ep. 8 [TV script] See this tat? I got it the night of my second marriage in Vegas.
2004		L. Redhead Peepshow [ebook] He [...] had wanted to get a dolphin tatt until his friend George convinced him they were a bit girly.
2004		T. Winton Turning (2005) 134: The tat was in the small of her back.
2007		D. McDonald Luck in the Greater West (2008) 127: The Aussie biker had thrown him a look [...] but he’d done the tatt anyway.
2008		G. Pelecanos Way Home (2009) 203: You know that thing I told you ’bout my tat?
2011		A.J. Hayes ‘Padre’ in Pulp Ink [ebook] Big fucker. Russian. Got those gulag tats tell what kind of bad motherfucker he is.
2012		L. Redhead ‘Grassed’ in Crime Factory: Hard Labour [ebook] His arms and legs were stained blue with jail tatts.
2013		K. Sampson Killing Pool 142: No distinguishing marks, like? Tats?
2017		D. Winslow The Force [ebook] He knows he has a hard look to him. It’s the tats [...] the heavy stubble.
2017		L. McInerney Blood Miracles 64: That she mentioned the tatt is a secret catastrophe.
2019		C. Hammer Silver [ebook] [G]reasy hair, tats and a well-tended gut.
2020		D. Winslow ‘Broken’ in Broken 36: Blood runs over his tats.
2021		C. Hammer Opal Country 67: ‘I got a couple of new tatts’.

In phrases

tat (up) (v.)

(US) to wear tattoos.

2016		Jeezy ‘Goldmine’🎵 My nigga tatted up, he with the gunplay.
2023		Rayman & Blau Riker’s 76: He had all kind of fucked-up tattoos all over him [...] tatted from his forehead down to his feet.