tap

Noun

Noun

×

A word that identifies a person, place, thing, or idea.

Plural

taps

Verb

Verb

×

A word that expresses an action, state, or occurrence.

present (v1)

tap

past (v2)

tapped

past participle (v3)

tapped

present participle

tapping

3rd person singular

taps

Noun

Noun

×

A word that identifies a person, place, thing, or idea.

1. 1.A conical peg or pin used to close and open the hole or vent in a container.

2. 2.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.

   • Is the tap water here safe to drink?
   • We don’t have bottled water; you’ll have to get it from the tap.

3. 3.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”).

4. 4.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.

   • I wish my aunt would send down some of this to the governor; it's a precious good tap.

Verb

Verb

×

A word that expresses an action, state, or occurrence.

1. 1.To draw off (a liquid) from a container or other source; also, to draw off a liquid from (a container or other source).

   • If we tap the maple trees, we can get maple syrup.
   • He tapped the ten-year-old whiskey from its barrel.
   • Perhaps, sir, he kicked a county member, perhaps sir he tapped a lord, you may stare, sir, I repeat it, blood flowed from noses, and perhaps he tapped a lord. Who knows?

2. 2.To furnish (a container, etc.) with a tap (noun etymology 1, noun sense 2.2) so that liquid can be drawn.

   • There's a very pretty brew in tap at The Pure Drop, though, to be sure, not so good as at Rolliver's.
   • Vladimir Putin, Russian prime minister, on Tuesday opened the tap to Nord Stream at a compressor station near Vyborg, north-west Russia.
   • The event is called "Men & Vulnerability," and when I walk in, I'm surprised to find about 50 people milling about, drinking free wine and pouring themselves beers from a tap in the communal kitchen.

3. 3.To break into or open up (a thing) so as to obtain something; to exploit, to penetrate; tap into.

   • Businesses are trying to tap the youth market.
   • He tried to tap cable television without a subscription.
   • For our supper, Ginger tapped the local butcher, who gave us the best part of two pounds of sausages. Butchers are always very generous on Saturday nights.

4. 4.To deplete (something); to tap out.

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Uncommon· #3052

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