tap
tap
noun
/tæp/
1 (especially British English) (North American English usually faucet) countable a device for controlling the flow of water from a pipe into a bath or sink
bath taps
the hot/cold tap (= the tap that hot/cold water comes out of)
Turn the tap on/off.
Don't leave the tap running.
You have to run the tap a long time before the hot water comes.
the sound of a dripping tap
I put my head under the tap and let the cool water run over me.
SEE ALSO tap water
Collocations
adjective
hothot-watercold…
verb + tap
turnturn offturn on…
tap + verb
driprunleak…
tap + noun
waterwasher
2 ​countable a device for controlling the flow of liquid or gas from a pipe or container
a gas tap
beer taps
SEE ALSO spinal tap
3 countable a light hit with your hand or fingers
tap on something He felt a tap on his shoulder and turned round.
tap at something a tap at the door
Collocations
adjective
gentlelightlittle…
verb + tap
give somebody/​somethingfeelhear…
preposition
tap attap on
4 ​countable an act of fitting a device to a phone so that somebody’s phone calls can be listened to secretly
a phone tap
​5 (also tap-dancing) uncountable a style of dancing in which you tap to the rhythm of the music with your feet, wearing special shoes with pieces of metal on the heels and toes
​6 (also flap) countable (phonetics) a speech sound that is produced by striking the tongue quickly and lightly against the part of the mouth behind the upper front teeth. The ‘t’ in later in American English is an example of a tap.
TOPICS Language C2
Idioms
on tap
tap
verb (taps, tapped, tapped, tapping)
/tæp/
1 intransitive, transitive to hit somebody/something quickly and lightly
tap (away) (at something) Someone tapped at the door.
He was busy tapping away at his computer.
tap somebody/something Ralph tapped me on the shoulder.
Tap the icon to open the app.
He tapped home his second goal from close range.
She tapped the ice with a stick.
Collocations
adverb
gently
lightly
impatiently
preposition
against
at
on
2 transitive, intransitive tap (something) if you tap your fingers, feet, etc. or they tap, you hit them gently against a table, the floor, etc., for example to the rhythm of music
He kept tapping his fingers on the table.
The music set everyone's feet tapping.
3 transitive, intransitive to make use of a source of energy, knowledge, etc. that already exists
tap something We need to tap the expertise of the people we already have.
tap into something The movie seems to tap into a general sentimentality about animals.
4 transitive tap something (especially British English) to fit a device to a phone so that somebody’s calls can be listened to secretly
He was convinced his phone was being tapped.
SEE ALSO wiretapping
​5 transitive tap something to cut into a tree in order to get liquid from it
​6 transitive, usually passive tap somebody (North American English) to choose somebody to do a particular job
Richards has been tapped to replace the retiring chairperson.
​7 transitive tap something (phonetics) to produce a tap (6)
SYNONYM flap
Phrasal Verbs
tap for
tap in
tap out
Word Origin
noun senses 1 to 2 and noun sense 4 Old English tæppa ‘peg for the vent-hole of a cask’, tæppian ‘provide (a cask) with a stopper’, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch tap and German, Zapfen (nouns). noun sense 3 and noun sense 5 Middle English: from Old French taper, or of imitative origin; compare with the verb clap and rap.
verb senses 1 to 2 and verb sense 6 Middle English: from Old French taper, or of imitative origin; compare with the verb clap and rap. verb senses 3 to 5 Old English tæppa ‘peg for the vent-hole of a cask’, tæppian ‘provide (a cask) with a stopper’, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch tap and German, Zapfen (nouns).