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What is "tap"

Crossword clues for tap

tap
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
tap
I.noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
bath tapsBritish English
▪ The water coming out of the bath taps was freezing cold.
mixer tap
tap dancing
tap on/at the door (=hit it very gently)
▪ I tapped on the door and opened it.
tap resources (=take them from an area)
▪ Several nations are eager to tap the mineral resources in Antarctica.
tap water (=water that comes out of a tap)
▪ The tap water is not safe to drink.
tap water
tap your feet (=bang them gently on the ground)
▪ She was tapping her feet in time with the music.
turn the handle/knob/key/tap etc
▪ She gently turned the handle of the bedroom door.
turning on the tap
▪ ‘I’m thirsty,’ she said, turning on the tap.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ I was startled by a light tap at the door.
▪ She gave Mike a drink of water from the tap.
▪ The FBI had put a tap on Mitchell's phone line.
▪ There was a tap at the door.
▪ What are they doing next door? I can't stand this constant tapping on the wall.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ A tap on the door sounded above the wind.
▪ A rubber hose-pipe snaked across the yard from the kitchen window, bringing hot water from the tap in the big sink.
▪ For the second time, there was a tentative tap on the door.
▪ I am stopped mid-anecdote by an imperious tap on my shoulder.
▪ The bath looked as if it had been hollowed out of a single lump of the stuff, with monstrous gold dolphins for taps.
▪ There was a tap on the window as Iris passed on her way to the front door of Hawthorn Cottage.
II.verb
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADVERB
gently
▪ Leave for about a minute, then gently tap off any excess glitter.
▪ He tapped gently on the door which was pulled open by Red Nose.
▪ She walked slowly towards the door, tapped gently, then stood back and waited.
▪ So I plucked up my courage and tapped gently on the door.
in
▪ He cleaned out a pocket and tapped in a nut.
▪ His chip shot came up an inch short and he tapped in for par.
lightly
▪ And she descended the stairs and, tapping lightly on the door, turned the handle and went in.
▪ Cops in twos and threes huddle, lightly tap their thighs with night sticks and smile at me with benevolence.
▪ She tapped lightly on the tall, wide, ornately panelled door, then pushed it open and walked in.
▪ Our driver rolled up his window and backed away, lightly tapping the front bumper of the car behind.
▪ He walked towards the door and tapped lightly on it.
▪ Glover lightly tapped his cane, looked off over the yellow lights dancing in the lake.
▪ I thought I'd remove it and, taking a hammer from the toolshed, lightly tapped the offending projection.
out
▪ He tapped out another cigarette from the packet and lit it with his gold-plated lighter while Blanche read.
▪ She would tap out a cigarette and pretend to smoke it, as if on break.
▪ Having discovered which it is, say it up-to-time at normal speed. Tap out the rhythm of other verses you know.
▪ The sad truth is that this source of power is already nearly tapped out.
▪ Mrs Lowyer turned to look at him and saw him lean forward to tap out the pipe in the ashtray.
▪ Meantime, the city is all but tapped out.
▪ His hand was hard around her waist; his boots tapped out an intricate rhythm like a drum.
▪ McAlister reached for his fork and tapped out a rhythm, a signal, a Morse code.
■ NOUN
energy
▪ The payoff is not in the end products so much as in the energy that can be tapped.
▪ Many readers will also be familiar with demonstrations of production of electric power by tapping the energy of winds and tides.
▪ In other words, a random jumble can not spontaneously assemble itself into some orderly structure without tapping some outside energy source.
▪ The answer is simple: it taps the rotational energy of Mars.
foot
▪ His foot tapped the floor in time to the music.
▪ His eyes were riveted to the overhead screen while the heel of his right foot tapped nervously on the floor.
▪ He waited, overtly patient, for her to begin, but underneath the table his foot was tapping noiselessly.
▪ His foot tapped on my carpet.
forehead
▪ Shaker gave a loose salute, and the grinning ensign tapped his forehead with a finger.
key
▪ Carver had tapped keys and up came the data on the Lennox girl.
▪ I watched as he placed a sheet of paper in the roller and began tapping the keys.
▪ We spend loads of time each day tapping keys.
market
▪ In some circumstances, such partnerships can, in fact, tap the tax-exempt market.
▪ Environmental systems: New consulting group set up to tap growing market for pollution clean-up services and advice.
▪ Generally, records sell better than books, and publishers want to tap into that larger market.
▪ It attracted more retail savings than even the government, which spares no effort to tap the market.
▪ High street banks have been tapping the student market for years, offering undergraduates free overdrafts.
▪ Otherswant to tap into the overseas market.
▪ While tapping the same market, the chains approach the business customer in different ways.
phone
▪ Morton, he realized, spoke with the confidence of the man who tapped the phones.
▪ One eye's cut from the flowered turf: a horse skull, whispering secrets with wind-sighs like tapping on phone wires.
potential
▪ The single most important step towards tapping you potential is establishing specific, realistic, and worthwhile goals.
source
▪ If Nissan, Toyota and the others fail to tap this source they will still be formidable firms all around the world.
▪ Dole is now expected to tap a new source of campaign financing: the Republican National Committee.
▪ How could booksellers tap this source of data?
▪ In other words, a random jumble can not spontaneously assemble itself into some orderly structure without tapping some outside energy source.
▪ Any bacterium that could tap a different source of food would obviously be very successful and eventually some did.
▪ Skilful questioning of the child can make him tap sources of knowledge he didn't know he had.
▪ If developing countries tap existing sources for money to improve communications, then there may be less cash for other projects.
▪ The dervish gyrating on his axis echoes the rotation of the earth and taps the sources of creative vibration.
telephone
▪ It is not hard to see why official inquiries concerning matters like spies or telephone tapping very rarely tell the truth.
▪ Then there is piecemeal reform with an ad hoc tribunal created-the classic instance of this concerns telephone tapping.
▪ Every embassy is being watched, our telephones are being tapped, everyone is on the lookout for you.
▪ But it was also claimed that in the late 1970s certain telephones were tapped irrespective of any industrial dispute.
vein
▪ But whatever his motives, he soon realized that he had tapped a very useful vein of information in Ted Morgan.
▪ Perry taps the needle one last time, taps her arm for veins and injects the syringe into a bruise.
▪ The language also taps a Laurentian vein where mud, blood, heat and simmering violence are mashed together.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ Daley read the notes, tapping a pencil on the desk.
▪ Investigators had tapped the drug dealer's phone line.
▪ Is that someone tapping on the door?
▪ It sounded as though something outside was tapping against the window.
▪ Later we realized our phones had been tapped and the police knew everything.
▪ Reinhardt was tapped for the federal bench in 1980 by former President Carter.
▪ She tapped on the window to attract his attention.
▪ The rain forest theme products tap into consumer interest in the environment.
▪ The whole crowd was clapping and tapping their feet to the music.
▪ To continue the research project, the university plans to tap funds primarily from private foundations.
▪ Williams is expected to be tapped as the new director of operations.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ Edouard was tapping the table idly with one finger, which Isobel knew was a sign of irritation.
▪ He tapped the cigarette briskly against the packet, placed it negligently between his lips and lit it.
▪ His chip shot came up an inch short and he tapped in for par.
▪ In other cases it was apparent that a new pedestrian population was being tapped as turnover rose markedly on shop opening.
▪ In some circumstances, such partnerships can, in fact, tap the tax-exempt market.
▪ Nor did I telephone Edusha the police might be tapping the line.
▪ She would tap out a cigarette and pretend to smoke it, as if on break.
Related phrases:
The Collaborative International Dictionary
tap

Faucet \Fau"cet\, n. [F. fausset, perh. fr. L. fauces throat.]

  1. A fixture for drawing a liquid, as water, molasses, oil, etc., from a pipe, cask, or other vessel, in such quantities as may be desired; -- called also tap, and cock. It consists of a tubular spout, stopped with a movable plug, spigot, valve, or slide.

  2. The enlarged end of a section of pipe which receives the spigot end of the next section.

Related phrases:
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
tap

"strike lightly," c.1200, from Old French taper "tap, rap, strike" (12c.), from a Gallo-Roman or Germanic source ultimately imitative of the sound of rapping. Meaning "to designate for some duty or for membership" is recorded from 1952, from notion of a tap on the shoulder. Related: Tapped; tapping.

tap

"light blow or stroke," mid-14c., from tap (v.1). Tap dancer first recorded 1927, from tap (n.) in the sense of "metal plate over the heel of a shoe" (1680s).

tap

"stopper, faucet through which liquid can be drawn," Old English tæppa "tap, spigot," from Proto-Germanic *tappon (cognates: Middle Dutch tappe, Dutch tap, Old High German zapfo, German Zapfe). Originally a tapering cylindrical peg for a cask, then a hollowed one to draw from it (compare sense evolution of spigot). Phrase on tap "ready for use, ready to be drawn and served" is recorded from late 15c. Tap-wrench, used in turning one, attested from 1815.

tap

"to supply with a tap," late Old English tæppian, from source of tap (n.1); compare German zapfen "to tap." Meaning "to draw liquor with a tap" is from mid-15c. Extended sense "make use of" is first recorded 1570s. Meaning "listen in secretly" (1869), originally was with reference to telegraph wires. Tapped out "broke" is 1940s slang, perhaps from the notion of having tapped all one's acquaintances for loans already (compare British slang on the tap "begging, making requests for loans," 1932).

tap

"device to listen in secretly on telephone calls," 1923, from tap (v.2) in the "listen secretly" sense.

Wiktionary
tap

Etymology 1 n. 1 A tapering cylindrical pin or peg used to stop the vent in a cask; a spigot. 2 A device used to dispense liquids. 3 Liquor drawn through a tap; hence, a certain kind or quality of liquor. 4 A place where liquor is drawn for drinking; a taproom; a bar. 5 (context mechanics English) A device used to cut an internal screw thread. (External screw threads are cut with a die.) 6 A connection made to an electrical or fluid conductor without breaking it. 7 An interception of communication by authority. vb. 1 To furnish with taps. 2 To draw off liquid from a vessel. 3 deplete, especially of a liquid via a tap; tap out 4 To place a listening or recording device on a telephone or wired connection. (from 19th c.) 5 To intercept a communication without authority. 6 (context mechanical English) To cut an internal screw thread. 7 (context gaming English) To turn or flip a card or playing piece to remind players that it has already been used that turn. Etymology 2

n. 1 A gentle or slight blow; a light rap; a pat. 2 (context computing English) The act of touching a touch screen. 3 A piece of leather fastened upon the bottom of a boot or shoe in repairing or renewing the sole or heel; a heeltap. 4 (context military English) 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. vb. 1 To strike lightly. (from early 13th c.) 2 To touch one's finger, foot, or other body parts on a surface (usually) repeatedly. 3 To make a sharp noise. 4 To designate for some duty or for membership, as in 'a tap on the shoulder'. (from mid-20th c.) 5 (context slang transitive English) To have sexual intercourse with. 6 (context combat sports English) To submit to an opponent by tapping one's hand repeatedly. 7 (context combat sports transitive English) To force (an opponent) to submit. 8 To put a new sole or heel on.

Related phrases:
WordNet
tap

  1. v. cut a female screw thread with a tap

  2. draw from or dip into to get something; "tap one's memory"; "tap a source of money"

  3. strike lightly; "He tapped me on the shoulder" [syn: tip]

  4. draw from; make good use of; "we must exploit the resources we are given wisely" [syn: exploit]

  5. tap a telephone or telegraph wire to get information; "The FBI was tapping the phone line of the suspected spy"; "Is this hotel room bugged?" [syn: wiretap, intercept, bug]

  6. furnish with a tap or spout, so as to be able to draw liquid from it; "tap a cask of wine"

  7. make light, repeated taps on a surface; "he was tapping his fingers on the table impatiently" [syn: rap, knock, pink]

  8. walk with a tapping sound

  9. dance and make rhythmic clicking sounds by means of metal plates nailed to the sole of the dance shoes; "Glover tapdances better than anybody" [syn: tapdance]

  10. draw (liquor) from a tap; "tap beer in a bar"

  11. pierce in order to draw a liquid from; "tap a maple tree for its syrup"; "tap a keg of beer"

  12. make a solicitation or entreaty for something; request urgently or persistently; "Henry IV solicited the Pope for a divorce"; "My neighbor keeps soliciting money for different charities" [syn: solicit, beg]

  13. [also: tapping, tapped]

tap

  1. n. the sound made by a gentle blow [syn: pat, rap]

  2. a faucet for drawing water from a pipe or cask [syn: water faucet, water tap, spigot, hydrant]

  3. a gentle blow [syn: rap, strike]

  4. a small metal plate that attaches to the toe or heel of a shoe (as in tap dancing)

  5. a tool for cutting female (internal) screw threads

  6. a plug for a bunghole in a cask [syn: spigot]

  7. the act of tapping a telephone or telegraph line to get information [syn: wiretap]

  8. a light touch or stroke [syn: pat, dab]

  9. [also: tapping, tapped]

Related phrases:
Wikipedia
Táp

Táp is a village in Győr-Moson-Sopron county, Hungary.

In 1588 it was undivided property of Count János Cseszneky and András Farkas, later was in the hands of Cseszneky heirs.

Tap (valve)

A tap (also spigot or faucet: see usage variations) is a valve controlling the release of a liquid or gas.

Tap (gaming)

Tapping is a term used in a variety of ways in a number of games. Although the exact meaning varies, it generally either refers to either the physical action of actually touching something, or to the "using up" of the resources of some element of the game.

Tap (transformer)

A tap is a connection point along a transformer winding that allows a certain number of turns to be selected. This means, a transformer with a variable turns ratio is produced, enabling voltage regulation of the output. The tap selection is made with a tap changer mechanism.

Tap (film)

Tap is a 1989 dance drama film written and directed by Nick Castle. It stars Gregory Hines and Sammy Davis, Jr.

TAP (novelette)

"TAP" is a 1995 novelette by Greg Egan. It is set in a near-future society in which brain implants allow immersive virtual reality. The implants also allow a new kind of language called TAP, Total Affective Protocol. TAP is essentially a way of making qualia into words.

TAP words can be read like English, or invoked to be experienced, like virtual reality.

Related phrases:

Usage examples of "tap".

Working quickly, he attached the much smaller, but much more efficient crystal-lattice trap and accelerometer to a port upstream from the main detector, where the substation tapped into the Tevatron flow.

Her childhood and adolescence had been full enough of taps on the phone, cars across the street, name-calling and fights in school.

Finished with cycling the air-lock combination, Councillor Albedo tapped at the invisible key in his palm once again.

Sliding his arm into each of the three spaces, Alec pressed and tapped with no success.

I knew it was Bakor and that they had tapped the open time channel just before I was to reach Algor terminal.

She tapped her toe impatiently, wondering why Duncan persisted in talking about old and withered Eglantine when she, ripe and lovely Alienor, was directly before him.

Moshe Dayan, Amit was tapped to run the Mossad in 1963 while studying business administration at Columbia University in New York City.

Billy Anker tapped the fingers of his good hand on the arm of his acceleration chair.

Our people can use commercial software to do stand alone jobs or pull down the apps from our servers, or they can tap into our database, or into the huge databases on the Internet to pull in reference data.

Tapping the coordinates to Argon into the computer, he slumped in relief.

Inside the room, the Marshal-General sat with another man, the luap, and when Aris tapped at the doorpost, they both looked up to stare at him.

She could not detect a ground for such suspicion in the Ashake memories she could tap.

Presently I heard a discreet tapping on the doorboard of the hut which I at once removed, wriggling swiftly through the hole, careless in my misery as to whether I met an assegai the other side of it or not.

Pham tapped his palm, and the audio from the scene below came louder in his ear.

Listeners could picture the years wherein Chardon and Dokey had worked underground from the old shack to tap the real vein of the Aureole Mine.