tap
/tæp/
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.28 in modern English
Meaning
noun
An object with a tapering conical form like a tap (etymology 1, noun sense 1); specifically, ellipsis of taproot (“long, tapering root of a plant”).
noun
A hollow device used to control the flow of a fluid, such as an alcoholic beverage from a cask, or a gas or liquid in a pipe.
noun
A hollow device used to control the flow of a fluid, such as an alcoholic beverage from a cask, or a gas or liquid in a pipe.
Informal
noun
Liquor drawn through a tap (etymology 1, noun sense 2.2); hence, a certain kind or quality of liquor; also (figurative, informal), a certain kind or quality of any thing.
noun
A device used to listen in secretly on telephone calls or other communications.
noun
A secret interception of telephone calls or other communications using such a device; also, a recording of such a communication.
noun
A situation where a borrowing government authority issues bonds over a period of time, usually at a fixed price, with volumes sold on a particular day dependent on market conditions.
Example Sentences
- "We don’t have bottled water; you’ll have to get it from the tap."
- "Is the tap water here safe to drink?"
- "Taps, also called spouts or spiles, are valveless pipes inserted into drilled holes in maple trees to collect their sap as part of the process of making maple syrup"
- "abdominal tap pleural tap spinal tap"
- "a liquor of the same tap"
- "Here he produced a decanter of curiously light wine, and a block of curiously heavy cake, and administered instalments of those dainties to the young people: at the same time, sending out a meagre servant to offer a glass of "something" to the postboy, who answered that he thanked the gentleman, but if it was the same tap as he had tasted before, he had rather not."
Etymology
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /tæp/
- British English: /tæp/
Usage
- Informal
- British usage
- Transitive verb
- Intransitive verb
- Obsolete
- Slang
- American usage
- Countable