tap

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This tap was our water supply.

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Definitions (98)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (36)

  1. transitive verb To strike gently with a light blow or blows: I tapped you on the shoulder to get your attention.
  2. transitive verb To give a light rap with: tap a pencil.
  3. transitive verb To produce with a succession of light blows: tap out a rhythm.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (37)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (5)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (20)

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Examples (50)

  • He tapped one side of his head: tap, pause, tap-tap-tap; then his throat muscles began to twitch slightly and likewise his lips. —  Analog SFF, September 2006
  • Also around the tap is the line-out / headphone and the DC in 5V. —  Akihabaranews.com
  • Are we sitting right Tap, tap, tap--"_Yes_," answered the force, in a grave and deliberate way As to these raps," I remarked, "they are easily simulated, but they have been absolutely proven by several of our best investigators. —  The Shadow World
  • Listen to his stick--tap, tap, tap, tap, tap Christianna rose, looked at the clock, which was about to strike noon, left the room and returned with a glass of milk. —  The Long Roll
  • You have got some nasty cuts Sure, and my head's all right, your honor It isn't a tap from a Frenchman that would break the skull of Tim Doyle The gendarmes now intimated that, as the prisoner was restored, he must go in at once before the Maire. —  The Young Franc Tireurs And Their Adventures in the Franco-Prussian War
 

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This word has been looked up 173 times.

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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

knock ·  rap ·  click ·  thump ·  slap ·  shake ·  footstep ·  beat ·  whisper ·  rattle ·  stroke ·  faucet

Used in the same contextWord Family

tap:   taps ·  tapped ·  tapping
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (10)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (2)

  1. Middle English tappen, possibly from Old French taper.
  2. Middle English tappe, from Old English tæppa.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (8)

  1. from Middle English tappe, teppe, from Anglo-Saxon tæppa = OFries. tap = Dutch tap = Middle Low German tappe =Old High German zapho, Middle High German zapfe, German zapfe, zapfen = Icelandic tappi = Swedish tapp = Danish tap, a tap, plug, faucet. Hence tap, v., and ult. tampion, tampon, tamp.
  2. from Middle English tappen, from Anglo-Saxon tæppan = Middle Dutch, Dutch tappen = Middle Low German Low German tappen = German zapfen = Icelandic Swedish tappa = Danish tappe, tap; from the noun: see tap, n. Hence tapster, etc.
  3. from Middle English tappen, teppen, from Old French tapper, taper, tap, rap, strike, from Middle Low German tappen, tapen, Low German tappen = German tappen, grope, fumble; cf. Icelandic tapsa, tæpta, tap; cf. German tappe, Middle High German tape, foot, paw; origin unknown. Cf. tip.
  4. from Middle English tappe, tape; from tap, v.
  5. Abbr. of tap-house or tap-room.
  6. Abbr. of tap-cinder.
  7. Hind, tāp, heat, fever, from Sanskrit tāpa, heat.
  8. Abbr. of tapadera.
 

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/tæp/
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