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.

Synonyms

faucet

knock

rap

pat

spigot

strike

pound

💷

wiretap

bug

🐛

broach

hit

rap on

cock

tapping

stopcock

beat

bore

poke

hydrant

dab

plug

water faucet

water tap

solicit

sink

flick

tip

drill

stroke

chuck

rattle

beg

tapdance

exploit

puncture

valve

overhear

drum

🥁

eavesdrop

hammer

🔨

slap

clap

👏

intercept

stamp

stopper

drain

appeal

chatter

monitor

knocking

tap dance

fillip

pierce

discharge

type

pink

pipe

bop

lance

thump

patter

open

hit lightly

seek

🔍

click

branch

faucet

shock

⚡

get

get down

go after

go down

go for

grab

hookup

instill

invite

junction

let

let down

ligature

link up

listen in

login

lour

lower

meet

melt

nail

nozzle

nudge

number

🔢

numerate

offshoot

peck

peg

percuss

percussion

pet

petition

pick

⛏️

pin

pitter-patter

plead

plow

plunker

posit

pour

pour out

prance

pray

🛐

prick

prong

pump

punch

👊

pursue

put down

put in

quest

rack

rapping

reckon

request

riddle

ring

💍

rob

root

screw

screw tap

select

set

shake off

shot

shunt

sluice

snap

snick

spanning

spat

spear

spile

splice

spring

stave

step

sting

stopple

stuff

supplicate

syndication

tenon

throb

thrust

tick

tip-off

hit hard

trickle

trim down

wimble

woodpecker

work out

branch off

cash affect concern

cash in on

hit draw

let blood

make sound

pull strings

retinal cone

shoot for

stalky

stave in

touch feel

rap-tap

water spigot

half-sole

abuse

crack

light slap

terebrate

clock-tick

rat-a-tat-tat

defervesce

ebb off

ebb out

outlet opening

tapping tool

tapping point

tapping arrangement

split-flow

current tap

tap joint

shunt current

wapping off

tap screw

cock faucet

hollow log

catch rain water

stop

🛑

to strike

abut

adjoin

anoa

apply

ask

aspire

attachment

avail

band

bang

beseech

bespeak

bid

bleed

🩸

blink

boil down

bone

🦴

branching

break

bridging

bump

bunt

by-passing

calculate

call for

call waiting

capitalise

cast

catch

chase

cipher

clatter

come across

come down

compute

cone

conjunction

connection

cork

cotter

count

🔢

coupling

cypher

daub

debouch

decline

decrease

depress

die

💀

dip

distributary

dowel pin

drop

drumbeat

ebb

effuse

elevate

encounter

enter

entreat

enumerate

exude

fall

feed

figure

flap

flip

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.