tap

verb31

1. •
   to give someone or something a light, quick hit that makes a soft sound

   • Emma tapped Jim on the shoulder to get his attention.
2. •
   To (lightly) touch (a finger, foot, or other body part) on a surface, often repeatedly.

   • You can pay by tapping your card.
   • He was so nervous he began to tap his fingers on the table.
3. •
   To lightly and repeatedly touch (a person or one or more body parts) as part of various forms of psychological treatment.

   • The therapist tapped him when he was overcome by anxiety.
4. •
   Often followed by at or on: to strike lightly with a clear sound; also, to make a sharp noise through this action.

   • The tree was swaying in the breeze and tapping on the window pane.
5. •
   Of a bell, a drum, etc.: to make a sharp noise, often as a signal.
6. •
   To lightly touch a touchscreen, usually an icon or button, to activate a function.

   • Next, tap on the browser to get on the internet.
7. •
   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).

   • Tap the Save Image button to save the picture in your iPod touch or iPhone photo library (in the Saved Images album) or tap Cancel to cancel. — 2010
8. •
   (figurative) 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.
9. •
   (figurative) 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).

   • They can’t tap the phone without a warrant.
10. •
    To draw off (a liquid) from a container or other source; also, to draw off a liquid from (a container or other source).

    • He tapped the ten-year-old whiskey from its barrel.
    • If we tap the maple trees, we can get maple syrup.
11. •
    To act as a tapster; to draw an alcoholic beverage from a container.

    • Ile entertaine Bardolfe. He shall tap, he shall dravv. — 1597
12. •
    (informal) To drain off fluid from (a person or a body cavity) by paracentesis.
13. •
    (US, informal) To choose or designate (someone) for a duty, an honour, membership of an organization, or a position.

    • He was tapped by the president to act as a special counsel.
14. •
    To furnish (a container, etc.) with a tap 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. — 1891
15. •
    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.

    • Hard to believe Kimo [Leopoldo] used a triangle choke to tap [Kazushi] Sak[uraba], but 4 years can make a difference. — 2000
16. •
    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.
17. •
    (slang, vulgar) To have sexual intercourse with (someone).

    • I would tap that hot girl over there.
    • I’d tap that.
18. •
    To walk by striking the ground lightly with a clear sound.

    • Our England for ever! Ten thousand French, my brave Lad! I am going to tap avvay directly. — 1749
19. •
    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).

    • Tap an M3 thread all the way through the hole.
20. •
    To cut an external screw thread into (a bolt or rod) to create a screw.
21. •
    (informal, figurative) 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.

    • I tried to tap a cigarette off him, but he wouldn’t give me one.
22. •
    (slang) To shoot (someone or something) with a firearm.

    • Heard that, too, Rose said. A thirtyeight revolver. Only you tapped him with a rifle from a hundred yards out. — 2000
23. •
    (slang) Also in the form tap on the shoulder: to arrest (someone).

    • We are certainly scented here, and I walk about like a barrel of beer at Christmas, under hourly apprehension of being tapped! — 1830
24. •
    (figurative) To deplete (something); to tap out.
25. •
    (figurative) 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.

    • I think there's an expression in poker. I'll tap you, Mr. Maverick. — 1957
26. •
    (dialect, US) 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.

    • to tap shoes
27. •
    To put (a screw or other object) in or through another thing.
28. •
    (figurative) To turn over (a playing card or playing piece) to remind players that it has already been used in that round.
29. •
    To remove a taproot from (a plant).
30. •
    (no longer used) Of a hare or rabbit: to strike the ground repeatedly with its feet during the rutting season.

    • [A] Bore screameth: a Hare & a Cony beateth or tappeth: a Fox barketh: […] when they seeke or hunt after their mates. — 1575
31. •
    (no longer used) To spend money, etc., freely.

noun20

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

   • We don’t have bottled water; you’ll have to get it from the tap.
   • Is the tap water here safe to drink?
3. •
   A light blow or strike with a clear sound; a gentle rap; a pat; also, the sound made by such a blow or strike.

   • When Steve felt a tap on his shoulder, he turned around.
4. •
   An act of touching a button, icon, or specific location on the touch screen of an electronic device such as a mobile phone to invoke a function.
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. •
   Ellipsis of tap dance.

   • As successful commercially as it was critically, Bring in Da Noise, Bring in Da Funk established Savion Glover as the new tap superstar. — 2000
8. •
   Liquor drawn through a tap; hence, a certain kind or quality of liquor; also (figurative, informal), a certain kind or quality of any thing.

   • 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. — 1825
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.

   • We drilled a hole and then cut the threads with the proper tap to match the valve’s thread.
10. •
    An object with a tapering conical form like a tap; specifically, ellipsis of taproot (“long, tapering root of a plant”).
11. •
    A procedure that removes fluid from a body cavity; paracentesis.
12. •
    A connection made to an electrical or fluid conductor without breaking it; a tapping.

    • The system was barely keeping pressure due to all of the ill-advised taps along its length.
13. •
    One of the metal pieces attached to the sole of a tap dancer's shoe at the toe and heel to cause a tapping sound.
14. •
    (dialect, US) A piece of leather or other material fastened upon the bottom of an item of footwear when repairing the heel or sole; also (England, dialectal) the sole of an item of footwear.
15. •
    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.
16. •
    (UK) Ellipsis of taphouse or taproom (“place where alcoholic beverages are served on tap”).

    • Guard emerges from the tap, where he prefers breakfasting, […] — 1857
17. •
    A single muscle contraction in vocal organs causing a consonant sound; also, the sound so made.
18. •
    (slang) A shot fired from a firearm.
19. •
    (informal) The smallest amount of work; a stroke of work.

    • That put an end to work. They've hardly done a tap since. By now we should have half the season's copra stacked and ready for shipping. But you saw the plantation. Nothing done at all. — 1964
20. •
    (India) A malarial fever.

    • The country, my entertainer informed me, was considered perfectly safe, unless I feared the tap, the bad kind of fever which infests all the country at the base of the hills. — 1882

noun3

1. •
   Initialism of think aloud protocol.
2. •
   Initialism of talk aloud protocol.
3. •
   Initialism of total audience package: an offering that includes ads broadcast during every part of the schedule.