tap
pronunciation
How to pronounce tap in British English:
UK [tæp]
How to pronounce tap in American English:
US [tæp]
-
- Noun:
- the sound made by a gentle blow
- a faucet for drawing water from a pipe or cask
- a gentle blow
- a small metal plate that attaches to the toe or heel of a shoe (as in tap dancing)
- a tool for cutting female (internal) screw threads
- a plug for a bunghole in a cask
- the act of tapping a telephone or telegraph line to get information
- a light touch or stroke
-
- Verb:
- cut a female screw thread with a tap
- draw from or dip into to get something
- strike lightly
- draw from; make good use of
- tap a telephone or telegraph wire to get information
- furnish with a tap or spout, so as to be able to draw liquid from it
- make light, repeated taps on a surface
- walk with a tapping sound
- dance and make rhythmic clicking sounds by means of metal plates nailed to the sole of the dance shoes
- draw (liquor) from a tap
- pierce in order to draw a liquid from
- make a solicitation or entreaty for something; request urgently or persistently
Word Origin
- tap (v.1)
- "strike lightly," c. 1200, from Old French taper "tap, rap, strike" (12c.), from a Gallo-Roman or Germanic source ultimately imitative of the sound of rapping. Meaning "to designate for some duty or for membership" is recorded from 1952, from notion of a tap on the shoulder. Related: Tapped; tapping.
- tap (n.2)
- "light blow or stroke," mid-14c., from tap (v.1). Tap dancer first recorded 1927, from tap (n.) in the sense of "metal plate over the heel of a shoe" (1680s).
- tap (n.1)
- "stopper, faucet through which liquid can be drawn," Old English tæppa "tap, spigot," from Proto-Germanic *tappon (cognates: Middle Dutch tappe, Dutch tap, Old High German zapfo, German Zapfe). Originally a tapering cylindrical peg for a cask, then a hollowed one to draw from it (compare sense evolution of spigot). Phrase on tap "ready for use, ready to be drawn and served" is recorded from late 15c. Tap-wrench, used in turning one, attested from 1815.
- tap (v.2)
- "to supply with a tap," late Old English tæppian, from source of tap (n.1); compare German zapfen "to tap." Meaning "to draw liquor with a tap" is from mid-15c. Extended sense "make use of" is first recorded 1570s. Meaning "listen in secretly" (1869), originally was with reference to telegraph wires. Tapped out "broke" is 1940s slang, perhaps from the notion of having tapped all one's acquaintances for loans already (compare British slang on the tap "begging, making requests for loans," 1932).
- tap (n.3)
- "device to listen in secretly on telephone calls," 1923, from tap (v.2) in the "listen secretly" sense.
Example
- 1. Already , some are trying to tap their heavy-oil reserves .
- 2. Yet provincial governments are also pushing to tap the region 's rich resources .
- 3. Muslim-owned consumer-goods companies are also beginning to tap the muslim market in the west .
- 4. Gas and oil companies are buying more steel pipes to tap natural gas in shale basins .
- 5. Some investors said apple must tap some big new markets to keep up its record-breaking growth .