Tap

/tæp/ · noun

Meaning

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

Definitions by Sense

1. A conical peg or pin used to close and open the hole or vent in a container.
2. 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”).
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. 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.
5. A device used to listen in secretly on telephone calls or other communications.
6. A secret interception of telephone calls or other communications using such a device; also, a recording of such a communication.
7. 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.
8. 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.

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

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.

Those Norwegians and those Laps Have extraordinary taps: Those Laps especially have strange fancies: To see them drink, I verily think Would make me lose my senses.

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

telephone tap

Synonyms for tap

Antonyms for tap

Related Words

Word Forms

• taps
• tapping
• tapped
• no-table-tags
• glossary
• tap
• tappest
• tappedst
• tappeth
• -

Usage Notes

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