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tap - Meaning and Examples

Meaning of 'tap' (Webster Dictionary)

1 . Tap [ n.]
- A gentle or slight blow; a light rap; a pat.
- A piece of leather fastened upon the bottom of a boot or shoe in repairing or renewing the sole or heel.
- A signal, by drum or trumpet, for extinguishing all lights in soldiers' quarters and retiring to bed, -- usually given about a quarter of an hour after tattoo.
- A hole or pipe through which liquor is drawn.
- A plug or spile for stopping a hole pierced in a cask, or the like; a faucet.
- Liquor drawn through a tap; hence, a certain kind or quality of liquor; as, a liquor of the same tap.
- A place where liquor is drawn for drinking; a taproom; a bar.
- A tool for forming an internal screw, as in a nut, consisting of a hardened steel male screw grooved longitudinally so as to have cutting edges.
2 . Tap [ v. i.]
- To strike a gentle blow.
3 . Tap [ v. t.]
- To strike with a slight or gentle blow; to touch gently; to rap lightly; to pat; as, to tap one with the hand or a cane.
- To put a new sole or heel on; as, to tap shoes.
- To pierce so as to let out, or draw off, a fluid; as, to tap a cask, a tree, a tumor, etc.
- Hence, to draw from (anything) in any analogous way; as, to tap telegraph wires for the purpose of intercepting information; to tap the treasury.
- To draw, or cause to flow, by piercing.
- To form an internal screw in (anything) by means of a tool called a tap; as, to tap a nut.

Meaning of 'tap' (Princeton's WordNet)

1 . tap [ v]
Meaning (1):
- dance and make rhythmic clicking sounds by means of metal plates nailed to the sole of the dance shoes
Example in sentence:
  • Glover tapdances better than anybody
Meaning (2):
- strike lightly
Example in sentence:
  • He tapped me on the shoulder
Meaning (3):
- make light, repeated taps on a surface
Example in sentence:
  • he was tapping his fingers on the table impatiently
Meaning (4):
- make a solicitation or entreaty for something; request urgently or persistently
Example in sentence:
  • Henry IV solicited the Pope for a divorce;
  • My neighbor keeps soliciting money for different charities
Meaning (5):
- tap a telephone or telegraph wire to get information
Example in sentence:
  • Is this hotel room bugged?;
  • The FBI was tapping the phone line of the suspected spy
Meaning (6):
- furnish with a tap or spout, so as to be able to draw liquid from it
Example in sentence:
  • tap a cask of wine
Meaning (7):
- pierce in order to draw a liquid from
Example in sentence:
  • tap a keg of beer;
  • tap a maple tree for its syrup
Meaning (8):
- draw from or dip into to get something
Example in sentence:
  • tap a source of money;
  • tap one's memory
Meaning (9):
- draw (liquor) from a tap
Example in sentence:
  • tap beer in a bar
Meaning (10):
- draw from; make good use of
Example in sentence:
  • we must exploit the resources we are given wisely

Nearby Words:

tapa tapayaxin tape tapeline taper tapered tapering taperness tapestried tapestries

See 'tap' also in:

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