tap

Meaning

Noun

1. A tapering cylindrical peg or pin used to close and open the hole or vent in a container.
2. An object with a tapering cylindrical form like a tap (sense 1); specifically, short for taproot (“long, tapering root of a plant”).
3. 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.
4. (informal) 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.
5. Liquor drawn through a tap (sense 2.2); hence, a certain kind or quality of liquor; also (figurative, informal), a certain kind or quality of any thing.
6. A device used to listen in secretly on telephone calls or other communications.
7. A secret interception of telephone calls or other communications using such a device; also, a recording of such a communication.
8. 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.
9. A cylindrical tool used to cut an internal screw thread in a hole, with cutting edges around the lower end and an upper end to which a handle is fitted to turn the tool.
10. Short for taphouse or taproom (“place where alcoholic beverages are served on tap”).
11. A connection made to an electrical or fluid conductor without breaking it; a tapping.

Verb

1. To furnish (a container, etc.) with a tap (noun sense 2.2) so that liquid can be drawn.
2. To draw off (a liquid) from a container or other source; also, to draw off a liquid from (a container or other source).
3. (informal) To draw off (a liquid) from a container or other source; also, to draw off a liquid from (a container or other source).
4. To break into or open up (a thing) so as to obtain something; to exploit, to penetrate.
5. To deplete (something); to tap out.
6. (informal) To ask or beg for (something) to be given for free; to cadge, to scrounge; also, to ask or beg (someone) to give something for free.
7. To connect a listening and/or recording device to (a communication cable or device) in order to listen in secretly on telephone calls or other communications; also, to secretly listen in on and/or record (a telephone call or other communication).
8. To turn over (a playing card or playing piece) to remind players that it has already been used in that round.
9. To force (an opponent) to place all their poker chips in the pot (that is, to go all in) by wagering all of one's own chips.
10. To remove a taproot from (a plant).
11. To cut an internal screw thread in (a hole); also, to cut (an internal screw thread) in a hole, or to create an internally threaded hole in (something).
12. To cut an external screw thread into (a bolt or rod) to create a screw.
13. To put (a screw or other object) in or through another thing.
14. To act as a tapster; to draw an alcoholic beverage from a container.
15. (obsolete) To spend money, etc., freely.

Verb

1. (slang) To strike (someone or something), chiefly lightly with a clear sound, but sometimes hard.
2. (slang) To strike (someone or something), chiefly lightly with a clear sound, but sometimes hard.
3. (slang) To strike (someone or something), chiefly lightly with a clear sound, but sometimes hard.
4. To strike (someone or something), chiefly lightly with a clear sound, but sometimes hard.
5. To (lightly) touch (a finger, foot, or other body part) on a surface, often repeatedly.
6. To (lightly) touch (a finger, foot, or other body part) on a surface, often repeatedly.
7. To (lightly) touch (a finger, foot, or other body part) on a surface, often repeatedly.
8. To force (an opponent) to submit, chiefly by indicating their intention to do so by striking a hand on the ground several times; to tap out.
9. To invoke a function on an electronic device such as a mobile phone by touching (a button, icon, or specific location on its touch screen).
10. To repair (an item of footwear) by putting on a new heel or sole, or a piece of material on to the heel or sole.
11. (informal) To choose or designate (someone) for a duty, an honour, membership of an organization, or a position.
12. Often followed by at or on: to strike lightly with a clear sound; also, to make a sharp noise through this action.
13. To walk by striking the ground lightly with a clear sound.
14. Of a bell, a drum, etc.: to make a sharp noise, often as a signal.
15. To submit to an opponent, chiefly by indicating an intention to do so by striking a hand on the ground several times; to tap out.
16. (obsolete) Of a hare or rabbit: to strike the ground repeatedly with its feet during the rutting season.

Pronounced as (IPA)

/tæp/

Etymology

The noun is derived from Middle English tappe (“hollow device for controlling the flow of liquid from a hole, cock, faucet, spigot; hole through which the liquid flows; the liquid which thus flows”), from Old English tæppa, from Proto-West Germanic *tappō, from Proto-Germanic *tappô (“a plug, tap; peg; tapering stick”), from Proto-Indo-European *deh₂p- (“to lose; to sacrifice”).
The verb is derived from Middle English tappen (“to obtain (liquid, chiefly liquor) from a tap; to obtain and sell (liquor)”), from Old English tæppian (“to provide (a container) with a stopper; to obtain (liquid) from a tap”), and then either:
* from Old English tæppa (see above) + -ian (suffix forming verbs); or
* from Proto-Germanic *tappōną, from *tappô (noun) (see above).
Verb sense 1.3.5 (“to turn over (a playing card or playing piece) to remind players that it has already been used in that round”) alludes to the abilities or resources of the card or piece having been drawn on to the point of temporary exhaustion: see verb sense 1.3.2.