Tap
Tap , transitive verb
[French taper to strike; of Teutonic origin; compare dial. German tapp, tapps, a blow, tappe a paw, fist, German tappen to grope.]
1.
To strike with a slight or gentle blow; to touch gently; to rap lightly; to pat; as, to tap one with the hand or a cane.
2.
To put a new sole or heel on; as, to tap shoes.
Tap , noun
[Compare French tape. See Tap to strike.]
1.
A gentle or slight blow; a light rap; a pat. — Addison
2.
A piece of leather fastened upon the bottom of a boot or shoe in repairing or renewing the sole or heel.
3.
(Military) 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. — Wilhelm
Tap , intransitive verb
To strike a gentle blow.
Tap , noun
[Anglo-Saxon tappa, akin to Dutch tap, German zapfen, Old High German zapfo, Danish tap, Swedish tapp, Icelandic tappi. Compare Tampion, Tip.]
1.
A hole or pipe through which liquor is drawn.
2.
A plug or spile for stopping a hole pierced in a cask, or the like; a faucet.
3.
Liquor drawn through a tap; hence, a certain kind or quality of liquor; as, a liquor of the same tap. [Colloquial]
4.
A place where liquor is drawn for drinking; a taproom; a bar. [Colloquial]
5.
(Mechanics) A tool for forming an internal screw, as in a nut, consisting of a hardened steel male screw grooved longitudinally so as to have cutting edges.
Collocations (4)
On tap , (a) Ready to be drawn; as, ale on tap. (b) Broached, or furnished with a tap; as, a barrel on tap.
Plug tap (Mechanics) , a screw-cutting tap with a slightly tapering end.
Tap bolt , a bolt with a head on one end and a thread on the other end, to be screwed into some fixed part, instead of passing through the part and receiving a nut. See Illust. under Bolt.
Tap cinder (Metallurgy) , the slag of a puddling furnace.
Tap , transitive verb
1.
To pierce so as to let out, or draw off, a fluid; as, to tap a cask, a tree, a tumor, a keg of beer, etc.
2.
Hence, to draw resources from (a reservoir) in any analogous way; as, to tap someone's knowledge of the Unix system; to tap the treasury.
3.
To draw, or cause to flow, by piercing. — Shakespeare
He has been tapping his liquors.
4.
(Mechanics) To form an internal screw in (anything) by means of a tool called a tap; as, to tap a nut, a pipe, or tubing.
5.
to connect a listening device to (a telephone or telegraph line) secretly, for the purpose of hearing private conversations; also, to obtain or record (information) by tapping; -- a technique used by law enforcement agencies investigating suspected criminals. In the United States it is illegal without a court order permitting it.