▪ I. tap, n.1
(tæp)
Forms: 1 tæppa, 4 teppe, 5–7 tappe, 7 tapp, 5– tap.
[Com. Teutonic: OE. tæppa (wk. masc.) = OLG. *tappo (MDu., MLG., LG. tappe, EFris. tappe, tap, Du. tap, NFris. tâp), OHG. zapfo (MHG. zapfe, Ger. zapfen), ON. tappi (Sw. tapp, Da. tap):—OTeut. *tappon-, orig. a tapering cylindrical stick or peg (cf. tap-root).]
1. a. A cylindrical stick, long peg, or stopper, for closing and opening a hole bored in a vessel; hence, a hollow or tubular plug through which liquid may be drawn, having some device for shutting off or governing the flow; used especially in drawing liquor from a cask, or water from a pipe, and for regulating the flow of gas, steam, etc.; a cock, a faucet.
| c 1050 in Techmer's Int. Zeitschr. für allg. Sprachwissensch. II. 120 Ðonne þu win habban wille, þonne do þu mid þinum twam fingrum, swilce þu tæppan of tunnan onteon wille. Ibid., Tæppan teon. 1340 Ayenb. 27 Vor hit behoueþ þet zuich wyn yerne by þe teppe ase þer is ine þe tonne. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 486/2 Tappe, of a vessel, ductillus, clipsidra. 1530 Palsgr. 279/1 Tappe or spygote to drawe drinke at, chantepleure. 1588 Marprel. Epist. (Arb.) 38 Sir Ieffry..tooke such vnkindenes at the alehouse, that he sware he would neuer goe againe into it..the tap had great quietnes and ease therby. 1688 R. Holme Armoury iii. xx. (Roxb.) 231 The Cock or Tapp, letting out the hot water. 1768 Cook Voy. round World i. ii. (1773) 17 It was impossible..to draw out any of its contents by a tap. 1874 J. T. Micklethwaite Mod. Par. Churches 185 A few taps only are turned, and all is ready for lighting. |
b. fig.| c 1386 Chaucer Reeve's Prol. 36 As many a yeer as it is..Syn that my tappe [v.r. tap] of lif began to renne. 1599 Broughton's Let. xi. 37 This whole tractate of yours,..is but the droppings of other mens taps. 1658 W. Gurnall Chr. in Arm. ii. verse 16. viii. (1669) 203/2 Labour to take the advantage of thy present relenting frame,..now the Ordinance hath thawed the Tap. 1907 Daily Chron. 18 Apr. 5/6 There was certainly a ‘tap on’, as the vulgar phrase is, in the market yesterday, and much scrip was thrown out at ½ to 5/8 premium. |
c. on (in) tap, on draught, ready for immediate consumption or use (
lit. and
fig.); also
spec. in
Stock Exchange use, applied to securities which are the subject of a large issue.
Cf. quot. 1907, sense 1 b.
† to sell by tap (
Sc. Obs.), to sell in small quantities, to retail.
| 1483 Seill of Caus, Edin. 2 May (Jam.), That no common cremaris of the toune wse to sell be tap ony hammermans work. 1862 Lowell Biglow P. Ser. ii. 54 Who is he that..has eloquence always on tap? 1890 R. L. Stevenson Vailima Lett. (1895) 35 The moon is on tap again. 1891 T. Hardy Tess i, There's a pretty brew in tap at the Pure Drop. 1908 [see concertina v.]. 1923 Westm. Gaz. 8 Jan. 4/2 It is some time since ‘additional’ Treasury Bills have been on ‘tap’ at so low a rate as..17/8 per cent. 1926 L. R. Robinson Investm. Trust Organization & Managem. 71 Whether the investment trust should raise its funds by keeping ‘on tap’ its offerings to the public and ‘feeding’ them out in response to demand..depends upon a number of factors. 1931 J. Greenhill in Westm. Bank Guild Lectures 1930–1 III. 105 We have not seen Bills ‘on tap’ for some considerable time past. 1935 A. Huxley Let. 5 June (1969) 396 His own left organizations in France will of course be on tap. 1958 Times 2 Oct. 3/3 Anything offered by television is on tap. 1965 J. L. Hanson Dict. Econ. & Commerce 371/2 Securities are said to be on ‘tap’ when they are issued in unlimited quantities (though the amounts permitted to each individual may be restricted) and are available for purchase direct from the issuing authority at any time. 1975 J. F. Burke Death Trick (1976) v. 82 We'll look into those alibis. Meanwhile, I want you both on tap. Understand? |
d. Electr. Engin. = tapping vbl. n.1 2 b.
| 1900 M. A. Oudin Standard Polyphase Apparatus & Systems ix. 173 The secondary of each interchangeable transformer has two taps, giving 50 per cent and 86·7 per cent of the full voltage, so that either transformer can serve as the teaser, or supplementary one, by using the proper terminals. 1947 R. Lee Electronic Transformers & Circuits viii. 214 To improve the closeness of voltage control, a variable autotransformer has been developed in which the moving tap is a carbon brush which slides over exposed turns of a winding. 1974 C. C. Woodard Cable Television vi. 121 A complete new installation..from the tap to the subscriber's television set. |
e. Stock Exchange. A security which is available ‘on tap’ (see sense 1 c above).
| 1948 Economist 8 July 772/2 {pstlg}24½m...was perhaps acquired by original conversion of Local Loan or through the tap; but the additional {pstlg}55m. was presumably bought on the market. 1960 Ibid. 8 Oct. 167/2 The issue price is nominal, since no one expected more than a small fraction of Wednesday's issue of {pstlg}500 million would be taken by the public. The rest goes into the official tap, and the tap price can of course be adjusted as events dictate. 1967 Ibid. 4 Feb. 444/1 Supplies of the long tap (Treasury 63/4% 1995/98), issued only last October 28th, had already run out. 1976 Southern Even. Echo (Southampton) 12 Nov. 24/6 Gilts managed to push forward by 1/4 to 3/8 taking the new Treasury 14 per cent. 1982 ‘tap’ up 1/16 to 98 5/16. But the new long ‘tap’ Treasury 151/4 1996 stays at 97½. 1980 Times 15 Jan. 18 It would not surprise them to see the authorities issue another tap at the end of this week. |
2. a. A tap-room or tap-house.
colloq. Also
spec. at
Eton College:
(† the) Tap, a place where beer is sold to pupils at Eton.
| 1725 New Cant. Dict. s.v. Tape, The Renters of the Tap..in Newgate. 1771 Smollett Humph. Cl. II. 11 June, Rabbit him! the tap will be ruined. 1837 J. D. Lang N.S. Wales II. 102 He had been drinking in the Tap over-night. 1857 Hughes Tom Brown i. iv, Guard emerges from the tap, where he prefers breakfasting. 1865 Etoniana 23 The ‘Tap’ and the Christopher had their earlier prototypes. 1917 A. Huxley Let. 30 Sept. (1969) 134 They were regrettably caught at the time just entering Tap. 1980 Sunday Times (Colour Suppl.) 14 Dec. 94/3 On the other days I'm free and I go for a drink to Tap. |
b. A pit in which tan-liquor is mixed;
= leach n.2 2. ?
Obs.| 1797 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) XVIII. 307/1 Strong liquor called ooze or wooze prepared in pits called letches or taps kept for the purpose, by infusing ground bark in water. |
3. a. The liquor drawn from a particular tap; a particular species or quality of drink. Also
fig. a particular strain or kind of anything.
colloq.| 1623 tr. Favine's Theat. Hon. i. i. 1 Such a one was called a Gentleman of the first Tappe. 1832 L. Hunt Redi Bacchus in Tuscany 75 Those Norwegians and those Laps Have extraordinary taps. 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair xxxiv, I wish my aunt would send down some of this to the governor; it's a precious good tap. 1872 O. W. Holmes Poet Breakf.-t. vi. (1885) 139 Sentiment wasn't his tap. 1902 A. Birrell W. Hazlitt iv. 55 His [Hazlitt's] ‘tap’ was too bitter, his stride too long. |
b. Short for
tap-cinder: see 8.
| 1878 Ure Dict. Arts IV. 493 Using such purple ore in the ordinary way, as fettling in conjunction with ‘tap’, pottery mine, etc. |
4. Mech. A tool used for cutting the thread of an internal screw, consisting of a male screw of hardened steel, grooved lengthways to form cutting edges, and having a square head so that it may be turned by a wrench.
| 1677 Moxon Mech. Exerc. ii. 31 Turn about the tap in the hole, and make grooves and threds in the Nut. 1816 [see screw nut s.v. screw n.1 24]. 1875 Carpentry & Join. 81 A tap..to cut the requisite thread inside the nut. 1884 F. J. Britten Watch & Clockm. 232 Taps for watch makers' use are made by running a piece of steel through a screw plate. |
5. An object having the shape of a slender tapering cylinder, as an icicle;
esp. a tap-root.
| 1658 Phillips, Isicle,..a tappe of ice, a drop of water frozen. 1796 C. Marshall Garden. xix. (1813) 318 The tap of the oak will make its way downward, in a direct line, through the hardest soils. 1857 H. Miller Test. Rocks xi. 497 The central axes of the trees do not elongate downwards into a tap but throw out horizontally on every side a thick net-work of roots. |
6. a. A device by means of which a telephone conversation may be listened to secretly by a third party.
Cf. tap v.
1 2 c.
| 1923 E. Wallace Missing Million xxiii. 181 How did you know where the ‘tap’ was? 1959 Washington Post 26 Oct. a2/1 Law enforcement agencies use the taps even where prohibited by law. 1967 Times Rev. Industry Aug. 76/1 Telephones can be tapped so that it is virtually impossible for physical search to locate the tap, and if a searcher came near to it, the tap would automatically destroy itself without trace. |
b. The act of listening secretly to a telephone conversation by means of a connection to the wire.
Cf. phone-tap s.v. phone n.2 3;
telephone tap s.v. telephone n. 3.
| 1950 Sun (Baltimore) 24 Jan. 12/3 The Holmes view has been accepted by the Supreme Court in a series of decisions steadily narrowing the use to which wire-tap material may be put in court. But there is still a shadow-land within which the Justice Department feels safe in authorizing use of the wire tap. 1968 W. Garner Deep, Deep Freeze iii. 35 He'd made a phone tap, a successful tap, and overheard a reference to an agent..who was being sent to England. 1973 B. Murphy Business of Spying viii. 134 As well as being ‘bugged’, a telephone can be ‘tapped’. This permits the recording and/or monitoring of both sides of the conversation. The most basic and easy way to monitor a telephone conversation is to carry out a direct line tap. 1979 Guardian 1 Mar. 1/3 There had to be good grounds for suspecting that a tap would be productive. |
c. A recording made secretly from a telephone conversation.
| 1969 L. Sanders Anderson Tapes (1970) xxix. 73 Tape SEC. 25 JUN 68... This is a telephone tap. 1978 S. Brill Teamsters ii. 62 Telephone taps were played on tape recorders in court. |
7. on the tap, begging, making requests for loans.
Cf. tap v.
1 3.
slang.| 1932 A. Gardner Tinker's Kitchen iii. i. 217 Bob the journalist was, like everyone else at the Cross,..out to get what he could.., in plain words ‘on the tap’. 1977 P. Carter Under Goliath xii. 61 She was a real moaner and always on the tap, borrowing sugar and milk. |
8. attrib. and
Comb., as, in sense 1,
tap-dropping (also
taps-droppings),
tap-maker,
tap-spirits; in sense 1 e,
tap bill,
tap bond,
tap issue,
tap price,
tap rate,
tap sale,
tap stock; in sense 2,
tap-boy,
tap-man; also
tap-auger, an auger for boring tap-holes;
tap-bar, a testing bar placed in a cementation furnace and withdrawn for inspection during the process (
Cent. Dict. 1891);
tap-bolt, a threaded bolt which is screwed into a part, as distinguished from one that penetrates it and receives a nut;
tap-borer, a tapering instrument for boring bung-holes or tap-holes;
tap-changing Electr. Engin., the process of changing the connection to a transformer from one tap to another so as to vary the turns ratio and hence control the output voltage under a varying load; so
tap-changer, an apparatus for accomplishing this;
tap-cinder, the slag or refuse produced in a puddling furnace;
tap-dressing, decoration of wells at Whitsuntide, a Derbyshire custom;
† tap-lead = tap-trough;
tap-plate, a steel plate having holes, wormed and notched, for cutting external threads; a screw-plate (Knight
Dict. Mech. 1877);
tap-rivet,
tap-screw = tap-bolt (hence
tap-rivet v. trans., to secure by tap-rivets;
tap-riveting, the use of tap-rivets);
† tap-shackled a., ‘fettered’ by drink, drunk;
† tap-staff, a staff used to stop the tap-hole of a mash-tub;
† tap-stone, (?);
tap-tool = sense 4;
† tap-tree = tap-staff;
† tap-trough, a leaden trough used in brewing;
† tap-waiter, a waiter in a tap-room or tap-house (
obs. rare);
tap-water, water drawn through a tap;
spec. water supplied by a system of pipes and taps for household use;
† tap-whips,
tap-whisk, dialect variants of
tap-hose;
† tap-wort, the dregs of ale or beer;
tap wrench, a wrench for turning a tap-tool. See also
tap-hole,
tap-hose, etc.
| 1688 R. Holme Armoury iii. 317/2 (Coopers' Instruments) *Tap Auger. |
| 1957 A. C. L. Day Outl. Monetary Econ. xxxv. 443 The British Exchange Equalization Account started operations with large quantities of sterling assets, which it holds in the form of ‘*tap’ Treasury bills. |
| 1942 Sun (Baltimore) 9 May 16/1 (heading) About $4,500,000 ‘*tap’ bonds sold here. |
| 1877 Knight Dict. Mech., *Tap-borer. |
| 1801 G. Hanger Life II. 97 A *tap-boy at a public-house. |
| 1931 S. R. Roget Dict. Electr. Terms (ed. 2) 342/2 *Tap changer. 1962 Newnes Conc. Encycl. Electr. Engin. 748/2 Where possible, the tap-changer has minimum voltage to earth, and on most high-voltage line transformers it is at the neutral point. 1979 Railway Gaz. Internat. Jan. 49/1 As compared with the equivalent..tap-changer loco, maintenance was halved. |
| 1929 W. T. Taylor Electr. Supply Transformer Systems ii. 21 For station and distribution types of transformers, voltage control is now effected by *tap-changing on load; several satisfactory designs have been produced which enable tap-changing to be carried out directly on tappings from the main transformers. 1962 Newnes Conc. Encycl. Electr. Engin. 748/1 Tap-changing may be done when the transformer is out of circuit. |
| 1861 Lond. Rev. 16 Feb. 167 In the process of making malleable iron, which is called ‘puddling’, there is a large quantity of refuse, known as ‘*tap-cinder’. 1894 Daily News 23 Apr. 8/4 Some time ago it was discovered that this tap-cinder contained an amount of phosphorus which rendered it of sufficient service for basic steel-making as to justify the cost of its transmission for that purpose to the continent. |
| 1851 in N. & Q. 2nd Ser. IX. 431/1 A great deal of taste and fancy is exhibited in the..‘*tap-dressing’. 1860 Ibid. 430/2 [He] was collecting [flowers] for the Pilsley ‘Well’ or ‘Tap’ dressing. 1892 Daily News 22 Sept. 3/1 The Rev. G. S. Tyack's account of the curious custom of well-dressing, or ‘tap-dressing’, as it is called. |
| 1608 Middleton Fam. Love iv. iii, How rank the knave smells of grease and *taps-droppings! 1678 Quack's Academy 4 Vials filled with Tap-droppings. |
| 1926 L. R. Robinson Investm. Trust Organization & Managem. 71 ‘*Tap issues’ are better fitted for a market in which the investor is learning for the first time the advantages of participation in investment trusts. 1973 Daily Tel. 3 Feb. 21/1 During the past fortnight, despite the exhaustion of two sizeable tap issues and the successful launching of a new 9½ p.c. long-dated stock, the [gilt-edged] market has lacked impetus. |
| 1429 in Rogers Agric. & Pr. III. 550/1 Vas plumbeum called *tapled. |
| 1892 Pall Mall G. 23 Mar. 6/3 One of his former friends,..a *tap-maker. |
| 1907 Month July 7 Not but what priests doctor their stuff and give short measure like any *tap-man. |
| 1958 Times 21 June 11/3 The strong demand for Funding Five-and-a-Half per Cent., 1982–84,..enabled the ‘*tap’ price (the price at which Government departments are prepared to sell the stock they took up when the original issue was made) to be raised by 1–16 twice during the day. |
| 1922 Daily Tel. 12 June 2/1 New second-hand Treasuries were dealt in at 21/4 per cent., the ‘*tap’ rate now being 21/8 per cent. |
| 1869 E. J. Reed Shipbuilding ii. 43 They are each composed of two angle-irons, *tap-riveted or screwed (and not through riveted) to the bottom plating. 1874 Thearle Naval Archit. 79 It is connected to the stem, either by angle-irons on each side, through riveted, and tap riveted to the stem. |
| Ibid. 129 In riveting the angle-irons of bilge keels to the bottom plating *tap rivets are used. |
| Ibid., *Tap riveting is employed in securing plates to forgings. |
| 1926 L. R. Robinson Investm. Trust Organization & Managem. 71 ‘*Tap’ Sales, and occasional flotations. 1958 Times Rev. Industry Dec. (London & Cambridge Econ. Bull.) p. x/2 Tap sales have reduced bank liquidity. |
| 1891 Cent. Dict., *Tap-screw. |
| 1604 J. Morris Commpl.-bk. (Brit. Mus. Roy. MS. 12 B v) lf. 6 b, A scholler of Cambridge being somewhat *tap-shackled walking in the streete met a blacke bull. c 1608 Healey Disc. New World 82 [He] being truely tapp-shackled, mistooke the window for the dore. |
| 14.. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 572/13 Ceruida, a *tapstaf. 1688 R. Holme Armoury iii. 319/2 The Brewers Thorn with the Tap Staff through the middle of it. 1703 J. More Engl. Interest (ed. 2) 66 After this, you must lift up your Tap-staffe, and let out about a Gallon [from the mash-vat]..and put it up again, stopping your Tap-hole. |
| 1966 Punch 9 Nov. 710/3 The Bank will not allow anything like a boom in glit-edged to develop—and it has *tapstocks of its own to sell. 1980 Times 15 Jan. 15 Without tap stocks to deter them, gilts climbed briskly. |
| 1522 Wills & Inv. N.C. (Surtees 1835) 106 Also I bequeth to my son John Trollop..the brewehouse..a brewelede with a mashefatt and a *tap⁓stone with a boltong arke and the bras pottes called Thornley Pottes. |
| 1874 Thearle Naval Archit. 127 Screwing the rivet into a screw hole previously prepared for it by means of a ‘*tap tool’. |
| 1483 Cath. Angl. 378/1 A *Tap tre, ceruida, clipcidra. 1743 R. Maxwell Sel. Tr. Soc. Improv. Agric. Scot. 284 Take out your Cork, or Tap-tree, and have a Tub below to receive the Lee that comes off. |
| 1335 in Riley Lond. Mem. (1868) 194, 1 *tappetroghe [of lead]. |
| 1835 Dickens Sk. Boz (1836) 1st Ser. II. 179 You leave your bag and repair to ‘The Tap’... The *tap-waiter finds himself much comforted by your brandy-and-water. |
| 1881 Tyndall Float. Matter Air 81 Ice-water, distilled water and *tap-water..deprived of their powers of infection. 1898 P. Manson Trop. Diseases i. 32 Wash in tap water and then in distilled water, dry and mount in zylol balsam. |
| 1743 Lond. & Country Brew. iv. (ed. 2) 267 In [a Mash-Tub] fix a Brass Cock of three Quarters of an Inch Bore in a *Tapwhips, or do it by Plug and Basket. |
| 1854 A. E. Baker Northampt. Gloss., *Tap-whisk. 1881 Leicester. Gloss., Tap-whisk,..the wicker strainer placed at the back of the tap inside a mash-vat, &c. |
| 1582 Breton Toyes Idle Head Wks. (Grosart) 26/2 A cuppe of small *Tap worte. |
| 1815 J. Smith Panorama Sc. & Art I. 40 The *tap-wrench is simply a lever, with a hole..to admit the rectangular head of the tap, for the purpose of turning it round. 1956 H. Townsend in D. L. Linton Sheffield xvi. 299 Sheffield plays a large part in the production of drills and tipped cutters,..bit gauges, tap wrenches, pin vices,..and so on. 1964 S. Crawford Basic Engin. Processes i. 26 As its name implies the tap-wrench is required to provide a convenient method of revolving the tap in the drilled hole. |
▪ II. tap, n.2 (
tæp)
Forms: 4
tap(p)e, 5
tapp, 6–
tap.
[f. tap v.2 So OFris. tap; cf. F. tape slap.] 1. a. A single act of tapping; a light but audible blow or rap; the sound made by such a blow.
| 13.. Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 406 Ȝif I þe telle trwly, quen I þe tape haue. Ibid. 2357 At þe þrid þou fayled þore, & þer-for þat tappe ta þe. a 1466 Chas. Dk. Orleans Poems (Roxb.) 7 As strokis grete not tippe, nor tapp, do way The rewdisshe child so best lo shall he wynne. a 1577 Gascoigne Adv. F. I. Wks. (Roxb.) I. 463 Much greater is the wrong that rewardeth euill for good, than that which requireth tip for tap. 1597 Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, ii. i. 206 This is the right Fencing grace (my Lord) tap for tap and so part faire. c 1614 Fletcher, etc. Wit at Sev. Weapons iii. i, But when a man's sore beaten o' both sides already, Then the least tap in jest goes to the guts on him. 1720 Jenyns Art Dancing ii. Poems (1761) 21 Let them a while their nimble feet restrain, And with soft taps beat time to ev'ry strain. 1794 Mrs. Radcliffe Myst. Udolpho vii, A gentle tap at the chamber-door roused her. 1862 Sala Seven Sons II. vii. 194 The convicts were called off by the tap of a drum. 1877 Encycl. Brit. VII. 609/2 Rolling croquet..is made by trailing the mallet after the balls as soon as the stroke or tap is made. |
b. tap-tap, a repeated tap; a series of taps; also
adv.| 1837 Thackeray Ravenswing ii, Mr. Tressle's man..ceased his tap-tap upon the coffin. 1840 Marryat Poor Jack xxiii, The water went tap, tap, tap against the bends. 1905 E. Chandler Unveiling of Lhasa xii. 212 The tap-tap of the Maxim, like a distant woodpecker, in the valley. |
c. = tap-dancing.
| 1944 N. Streatfeild Curtain Up viii. 97 The same sandals do for everything except tap. 1950 Blesh & Janis They all played Ragtime (1958) iii. 57 Chauvin had a fine tenor voice and sang and danced superbly, buck and wing, regular and eccentric tap. 1952 A. Lomax Mister Jelly Roll v. 202 Well, I did my tap numbers in a lot of shows after that. 1972 Guardian 13 Dec. 9/1 It was quite bad enough doing tap—all the kids at school used to tease me. |
d. Phonetics. A single momentary contact between vocal organs in the production of a speech sound; the sound produced by such contact.
| 1952 [see one-tap s.v. one a. 34 a]. 1954 Pei & Gaynor Dict. Linguistics 214 The Spanish pero is pronounced with a tap r, but perro with a trill r. 1964 W. Jassem in D. Abercrombie et al. Daniel Jones 339 The assumption that two ‘taps’ are sufficient for a sound to be labelled ‘rolled’. 1977 Language LIII. 861 The individual closures of a trill are much more rapid than the single closure of a tap. |
e. In
fig. phr. a tap on the wrist, a mild reprimand.
Cf. slap n.1 2 a.
| 1973 Black Panther 20 Oct. 2/1 Forty pages of charges gathered by the Justice Department, and he gets off with a tap on the wrist for income tax evasion. 1974 Anderson (S. Carolina) Independent 23 Apr. 4a/1 Disrespect for the law and the courts stems from instances.. in which the accused have been found not guilty or have received a mere tap-on-the-wrist sentence when it was obvious that all evidence pointed to guilt. |
2. Pl.
taps (
U.S. Milit.): a signal sounded on the drum or trumpet, fifteen minutes after the tattoo, at which all lights in the soldiers' quarters are to be extinguished. Sounded also, like
last post (
post n.8) over the grave of a soldier. Also
fig., the end.
| 1824 H.R. Doc. 18th U.S. Congress 1 Sess. No. 111. 35 It is his [sc. the orderly's] duty..to visit his rooms, at the taps; see that the lights are extinguished; the fires properly secured; the occupants present, and in bed. 1862 Index (U.S.) 25 Sept., I well remember how ‘at taps’ we were wont to huddle together in our narrow quarters, each man's knapsack serving for his pillow. 1869 T. W. Higginson Army Life (1870) 34 The mystic curfew which we call ‘taps’. 1891 Cambridge (Mass.) Tribune 10 Jan. 8/5 The customary volleys were fired over the grave, and Bugler Fitzgerald sounded ‘taps’, the soldier's last sad farewell. 1904 J. A. Riis Roosevelt viii. 199 Taps had been sounded long since. 1917 A. G. Empey Over Top 258 Then it was taps for me. |
3. A piece of leather with which the worn-down heel or sole of a boot is made up and repaired or ‘tapped’ (
U.S.); a plate or piece of iron with which the heel is shielded; also, the sole of a shoe (
Eng. dial.). (
Cf. tap v.
2 3.)
on one's taps, on one's feet; on the move; busy.
| 1688–c 1850 [see heel-tap n. 1]. 1743 J. Hempstead Diary 12 Dec. (1901) 418 Nailed on a pr of Tapps on a pr of New Shoes for adam. 1844 W. Barnes Poems Rural Life Gloss., Tap, the sole of a shoe. 1855 Haliburton Nat. & Hum. Nat. II. 332 They have to be on their taps most all the time. 1864 Webster, Tap..the piece of leather fastened upon the bottom of a boot or shoe in tapping it, or in repairing or renewing the sole or heel. 1882 Jago Cornw. Gloss., Tap, the sole of a boot or shoe. Also the iron..‘scute’ of the heel, ‘heel tap’. 1954 J. Steinbeck Sweet Thursday 33 Brown calf shoes (heel taps a little run over). 1965 E. Tunis Colonial Craftsmen iv. 107 The thick leather for the tap (sole) soaked all day in water. 1976 National Observer (U.S.) 6 Mar. 14/6 Amazing polyurethane taps keep heels perfect for months. Attach in seconds to any heel, and no one can tell you're wearing taps. |
4. In negative context: the slightest amount
of work.
Cf. stroke n.1 11 a.
colloq.| 1887 Lantern (New Orleans) 22 Jan. 2/2, I understand that Eddie never done a tap of work in his life. 1946 F. Sargeson That Summer 185 For several weeks Jack hadn't done a tap of work in the garden. 1952 E. O'Neill Moon for Misbegotten i. 10 He's nothing but a drunken bum who never done a tap of work in his life. |
5. Comb. tap-in Basketball, a goal scored by tapping the ball into the basket,
usu. when following up an unsuccessful shot;
tap-kick Rugby Football, a light kick given to the ball whereby play is re-started from a penalty and possession retained; also as
v. trans.;
tap pants U.S., a type of fashionable ladies' knickers;
tap penalty Rugby Football, a penalty taken with a tap-kick;
tap-piece = 3; hence
tap-piece v., to repair with a tap-piece;
tap shoe, a shoe worn for tap-dancing, having a specially hardened sole or attached metal plates at toe and heel to make a tapping sound.
| 1948 Daily Progress (Charlottesville, Va.) 4 Feb. 9/3 Counting a tap-in one point would help equalize the height advantage, he said, but as in the case of the delayed whistle, what would constitute a tap-in? 1976 Cumberland & Westmorland Herald 4 Dec. 12/5 Coward netted a brace with a powerful long-range shot and a tap-in from Martin's cross. |
| 1960 T. McLean Kings of Rugby xi. 120 When Hewitt after a tap-kick penalty in the Lions' 25 set off with a tremendous burst of speed..the audience rose to him in wonderment and delight. 1978 Rugby World Apr. 6/1 After he had given an indirect free-kick against the French, the Scotland captain, Doug Morgan, dropped a goal direct from hand, without bringing it into play with a tap-kick first. Ibid., Mr. Thomas's explanation was that he had been telling the French why the kick had been awarded and that his back was half-turned when Morgan began the run-up to his kick. ‘I assumed Morgan had tap-kicked the ball first,’ he said. |
| 1977 Tap pants [see Teddy 3]. 1982 Penthouse July 26, I..have bought pretty tap pants and knickers from various lingerie establishments. |
| 1976 Sunday Post (Glasgow) 26 Dec. 36/3 It only took Gala five minutes to score. From a tap penalty Dickson tore a gash in the defence, and Telfer accepted his scoring pass in the corner. 1978 Rugby World Apr. 33/1 He..carries particularly fond memories of the six tries he recorded last season, almost all from tap penalties at close range. |
| 1903 R. Watson Closeburn xiv. 235 Mony a day I hae tappieced and heeled your auld shoon. |
| 1932 Boot & Shoe Recorder 20 Feb. 62/3 A four style range of toe, ballet, acrobatic and tap shoes covers the usual store's requirements. 1936 ‘Isolde’ Tap Dancing Made Easy 9 You can practise in an ordinary pair of shoes, but much better results can be obtained when wearing proper Tap shoes. 1980 Daily Tel. 10 Mar. 12/6 The musical..brings out the best in the most bashful of bathroom singers and puts imaginary tapshoes on confirmed wall-flowers everywhere. |
Add:
[1.] f. A shot fired from a gun,
esp. in target-shooting. Usu. with qualifying word, as
double (treble, etc.) taps.
slang.
| 1987 Guns & Weapons User Summer 34/2 In firing either the Sten or Sterling in the repetition mode it is fairly common to experience double ‘taps’ (shots) and more rarely triple. 1988 Target Gun Sept. 29/3 Mark moved forward to 15 and 10 metres and provided an impressive display of double and treble-taps on a series of targets. 1989 Combat & Survival Mag. Oct. 59/3 As the figure left the shadows to get a better fire position, I let rip with a double tap and saw him go down. |
▪ III. tap, n.3 [app. short for tapnet; cf. also top n.3] A rush-basket (usually containing
c 28 lbs.) in which figs of an inferior quality are imported.
Comb. tap-figs (
colloq. shortened to
taps), figs of the quality imported in taps.
| c 1860 [Recollected in use]. 1909 Wholesale Grocer's Price-list, Figs..Layers 40/-..50/-per cwt. Taps, 19/-... Naturals 25/6. 1910 Produce Mark Rev. 19 Feb. 155 Figs..Layer Figs..Pulled figs..Naturals..Comadra, Taps. |
▪ IV. ‖ tap, n.4 East Ind. (
tæp)
[a. Pers. tap fever, heat; = Skr. tapa heat, tāpa heat, pain, torment.] Malarial fever.
| 1882 F. M. Crawford Mr. Isaacs xii, Unless I feared the tap, the bad kind of fever which infects all the country at the base of the hills. |
▪ V. tap, v.1 (
tæp)
Forms: 1
tæppian, 5–6
tappe, 6
tape, 7–8
tapp, 5–
tap; also
Sc. (in sense 4, 4 b) 5–7
top(pe, 6
talp, 6–7
tope, 7
taip, (
topt).
[Com. Teutonic: OE. tæppian, from tæppa tap n.1 = MLG., MDu., LG., and Du. tappen, MHG., Ger. zapfen, ON., Sw. tappa, Da. tappe, all from the cognate ns. Cf. F. taper, to plug, from OLG.] I. To open (a cask, reservoir).
1. trans. To furnish (a cask, etc.) with a tap or spout, in order to draw the liquor from it.
| c 1050 in Techmer's Int. Zeitschr. für allg. Sprachwissensch. (1885) II. 125 ᵹyf þe ᵹedryptes wines lyste, þonne do ðu mid þinum swyþran scytefingre on þine wynstran hand, swylce þu tæppian wille, and wænd þinne scytefinger adune. 1483 Cath. Angl. 378/1 To Tappe, ceruidare. 1570 Levins Manip. 27/22 To Tappe, fistulum addere. 1696 Phillips (ed. 5), To Tapp a Vessel, to fix a Tapp in the Bung-hole..thereby to draw out the Liquor. 1832 Lytton Eugene A. iii. iii, I will tap a barrel on purpose for you. 1880 Act 43 & 44 Vict. c. 24 §90 The rectifier must not..tap, open, alter, or change any cask..containing any such spirits. |
2. a. To pierce (a vessel, tree, etc.) so as to draw off its liquid contents; to broach; to draw liquid from (any reservoir);
slang, to draw blood from the nose.
e.g. To bore into (a tree) so that sap may exude; to allow the molten metal to run from (a furnace); to pierce the wall of (a reservoir), to drain (a marsh).
| 1694 Westmacott Script. Herb. 12 It [the Quicken] will yield a liquor, if tapt as we do birch in the spring. 1792 J. Belknap Hist. New Hampsh. III. 114 The season for tapping the [maple] trees is in March. 1809 Nat. Hist. in Ann. Reg. 843/1 The maple tree..the oftener it is tapped the better. 1832 H. Martineau Hill & Vall. iv. 60 He was just going to tap the furnace, i.e. to let out the fused iron. 1840 Dickens Barn. Rudge li, Perhaps, sir, he kicked a county member, perhaps sir he tapped a lord..blood flowed from noses, and perhaps he tapped a lord. c 1865 J. Wylde in Circ. Sc. I. 419/2 The tree is ‘tapped’; that is, a hole is cut into it.., and the resin exudes. 1868 Carlyle Fredk. Gt. (1872) X. App. 199 What bogs he has tapped and dried, what canals he has dug. 1878 Huxley Physiogr. 27 The natural reservoir being thus tapped, a spring of water flows out. 1900 G. C. Brodrick Mem. & Impr. 315 The Braemar air..coming across treeless granite mountains which tap the rain-clouds as they sweep over. |
b. spec. in
Surg. To pierce the body-wall of (a person) so as to draw off accumulated liquid; to drain (a cavity) of accumulated liquid.
| 1655 [see tapping vbl. n.1]. 1709 Steele Tatler No. 62 ¶11, I have ever since my Cure been..dropsical; therefore I presume it would be much better to tap me. 1778 Latham in Phil. Trans. LXIX. 56, I tapped her once in a fort⁓night. 1807–26 S. Cooper First Lines Surg. (ed. 5) 527 If any of the viscera protruded..he used to reduce them, and then tap the hydrocele in the common manner. 1869 G. Lawson Dis. Eye (1874) 71 Tapping the anterior chamber with a fine needle, and letting off the aqueous, will often do good. 1898 Allbutt's Syst. Med. V. 788 The peritoneal cavity and pleura become repeatedly full of fluid and have to be tapped again and again. |
c. to tap an electric wire or cable: to divert part of the current,
esp. so as to intercept a telegraphic communication. So
to tap a call,
line,
message,
telephone, etc.
| 1869 Cornh. Mag. XIX. 759 A favourite plan of the raiders was to ‘tap’ the wire. 1871 Q. Jrnl. Sci. I. 117 For days the unconscious French were sending [telegraphic] messages, which were ‘tapped’ by the Prussians. 1874 J. H. Bunnel in J. E. Smith Man. Telegraphy (ed. 10) p. xv, The means employed to ‘tap’ a Telegraph line..are very simple. 1878 A. Pinkerton Strikers, Communists, Tramps & Detectives xvi. 199 The strikers certainly had some experienced telegraphers..capable of tapping the lines. 1879 Prescott Sp. Telephone 108 The telephone presents facilities for the dangerous practice of tapping the wire. 1892 N.Y. Tribune 15 Jan. 7/5 (Funk) By tapping the wire for a message from Guttenburg the operator could interrupt communication with all three. 1897 Westm. Gaz. 3 Apr. 9/3 It would be an unheard of thing for any casual merchant steamer to ‘tap’ a company's cable out at sea in order to gratify a private whim for news. 1897 Daily News 14 July 3/4 Extraordinary allegations of ‘tapping’ telegraph wires were made yesterday in a case heard at the Liverpool County Court. 1909 G. B. Shaw Press Cuttings 3 Why didnt you telephone? Balsquith. They tap the telephone. 1911 World's Work XVIII. 588/2 Hundreds of amateur installations erected in the vicinity of either station, whereby messages might be tapped or confused. 1957 Times 7 June 10/5 (heading) Calls tapped on barrister's telephone. Home Secretary questioned. 1972 Ibid. 19 Dec. 2/7 He could not prove beyond all reasonable doubt that the call he made to Mr Hope on December 1 had been tapped. 1978 G. A. Sheehan Running & Being ii. 32 There is no need to tap my phone or open my mail. |
3. fig. To open up (anything) so as to liberate or extract something from it; to open, penetrate, break into, begin to use. Also
absol. e.g. To open up (a country, district, trade, mineral vein, etc.); to extract money or elicit information from (a person); to rob (a till or house), pick (a pocket); to break (money) (
break v. 2 e); to broach (a subject).
| 1575 Gamm. Gurton ii. iii, Ye see..that one end tapt of this my short devise, Now must we broche t'other to, before the smoke arise. 1750 H. Walpole Lett. (1846) II. 358 How does cet homme là..dare to tap the chapter of birth? 1768 ― Hist. Doubts 43 Dr. Shaw no doubt tapped the matter to the people. 1781 ― Let. to W. Mason 22 May, After tapping many topics, to which I made as dry answers as an unbribed oracle, he vented his errand. 1828 Craven Gloss. s.v., To tap a note or sovereign, to get it changed. 1840 Dickens Old C. Shop lxiii, Here I am—full of evidence—Tap me! 1864 Home News 19 Dec. 19/2 So well had the interior of India been tapped by new roads. 1872 Raymond Statist. Mines & Mining 268 It is the intention of the owner to tap the vein by a tunnel. 1878 W. J. Thoms in Folk Lore Rec. I. Pref. 16 Mr. Gomme has ‘tapped’—(I thank thee, Horace Walpole, for teaching me that word)—has tapped a subject which is, I believe, new in this country. 1879 A. Pinkerton Criminal Reminiscences xiii. 212 In the act of ‘tapping’ the till of a North Side [of Chicago] German grocery. 1901 Essex Weekly News 29 Mar. 5/1 The first gentleman who was tapped for a subscription generously promised {pstlg}30. 1903 F. W. H. Myers Human Personality I. 315 While he was entranced, we endeavoured to ‘tap’ Mr. Browne. c 1926 [see marble n. 4 c]. 1929 W. R. Burnett Little Caesar i. 10 They only bank once or twice a week. They're careless, get that; because they've never been tapped. 1931 T. Horsley Odyssey of Out-of-Work xxiii. 247 We'll tap these mansions. 1931 ‘G. Orwell’ Coll. Ess. (1968) I. 57 Ginger tapped the local butcher, who gave us the best part of two pounds of sausages. 1935 ― Clergyman's Daughter ii. 105 They were begging..‘tapping’ at every..likely-looking cottage. 1939 J. Worby Spiv's Progress iii. 17 Every night he would put on his plimsolls and go tapping. 1979 Tucson (Ariz.) Mag. Mar. 46/1 Many of the big plush resorts that tap you for $80 to $100 a day. |
II. To draw off (liquid, etc.).
4. a. To draw (liquor) from a tap; to draw and sell in small quantities. Also
fig.| 1401 Pol. Poems (Rolls) II. 95 Me thynkith ȝe ben tapsteres in alle that ȝe don: ȝe tappe ȝour absoluciones that ȝe bye at Rome. 1589 Nashe Anat. Absurd. 20 These Bussards thinke knowledge a burthen, tapping it before they haue halfe tunde it. 1621 Sc. Acts Jas. VI (1816) IV. 669/2 Four pundis..of ilk Tune of wyne To be toppit, ventit, and sauld in smallis within the said burgh. 1665 Phil. Trans. I. 46 The boyled liquor..is tapp'd out of the said Kettles, through holes beneath. 1677 Act 29 Chas. II, c. 2 §1 Any..person or persons who doe or shall sell or tap out Beere or Ale publiquely or privately. 1737 (title) An Act for laying a Duty of Two Penies Scots upon every Scots Pint of Ale and Beer brewed for Sale, brought into, vended, tapped, or sold within the Town of Aberbrothock. 1743 Lond. & Country Brew. iii. (ed. 2) 236 The Beer or Ale in a Week after should be tapt. 1871 B. Taylor Faust i. ii. (1875) II. 13 The City Council too must tap their liquor. 1872 Yeats Techn. Hist. Comm. 126 On festive occasions, these lords alone possessed the privilege of tapping wine. |
† b. transf. To retail (any commodity).
Sc. Obs.| 1478–9 Burgh Rec. Edinb. (1869) I. 37 That na regratour by nor tap any vittale to regrate agane vnder the payne of pvnissing be the baillies after the tenour of the first act. 1478–9 Top [see tapper1 1 b]. 1538 Aberdeen Regr. XVI. (Jam.), For the spilling of the merkat in bying of wittail in gryt, & topping tharof befor none. 1573–4 Burgh Rec. Glasgow (1876) I. 450 To pas to Dunbertane to arreist schippis for talping of greit salt. 1605 in Gross Gild Merch. (1890) I. 222 To tapp tar, oil, butter, or to tapp eggs. 1615 Stirling Council Rec. in Trans. Nat. Hist. & Archæol. Soc. Stirling (1902) 61 Na craftsman [sal] buy, top, nor sell any merchand wairis. |
c. absol. To draw liquor; to act as tapster.
| a 1597 Peele Jests Wks. (Rtldg.) 619/1 Those bomborts that live by tapping, between the age of fifty and three⁓score. 1598 Shakes. Merry W. i. iii. 11, I will entertaine Bardolfe: he shall draw; he shall tap. 1625 Massinger New Way iv. ii, For which gross fault I here do damn thy license, Forbidding thee ever to tap or draw. |
5. a. To draw off (liquid) from any source.
| 1597 [see tapping vbl. n.1]. 1825 J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 357 When the fluid lead is tapped, or drawn off. 1853 ‘C. Bede’ Verdant Green i. xi, He told Verdant, that his claret had been repeatedly tapped. 1873 Tristram Moab xviii. 361 Little rills tapped from the springs. 1894 Bowker in Harper's Mag. Jan. 417 [It] floats on the top, and is easily tapped off. |
† b. intr. fig. To ‘turn on the tap’ of gifts; to open the purse or pocket; to spend or ‘bleed’ freely.
slang. Obs.| 1712 Addison Spect. No. 550 ¶1 A certain Country Gentleman begun to tapp upon the first Information he received of Sir Roger's Death. 1713 Steele Guard. No. 58 ¶6, I design to stand for our borough the next election, on purpose to make the squire on t'other side tap lustily for the good of our town. |
III. Technical uses.
6. Mech. a. To furnish (a hole) with an internal screw-thread, or (any part) with a threaded hole.
| 1808 Henry in Phil. Trans. XCVIII. 287 The lower orifice..is tapped internally, for the purpose of receiving a small screw. 1825 J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 131 A screw..is cut on the gudgeon..and a piece of iron..is tapped to fit it. 1833 Holland Manuf. Metal II. 105 The [gun] barrel having been tapped at the stouter end, and being fitted with the breech screw. 1902 Marshall Metal Tools 32 Holes of varying sizes..are drilled and tapped. |
b. To furnish with an external screw-thread; to convert (a bolt or rod) into a screw.
| 1815 J. Smith Panorama Sc. & Art I. 40 The bolt or pin intended to be tapped, either with a screw-plate or stocks, is tapered in a small degree at the extremity. 1837 Civil Eng. & Arch. Jrnl. I. 48 The lower part of the king-bolt is tapped with a screw and nut. 1888 Rutley Rock-Forming Min. 23 Each rod is tapped with a [screw-]thread. |
c. To cause to pass through or in by screwing.
| 1869 E. J. Reed Shipbuild. ii. 44 The angle-irons..are secured to the plating by 1 inch screws tapped through it. 1885 C. G. W. Lock Workshop Receipts Ser. iv. 341/2 The hook should be ‘tapped’ in very tight. |
7. To deprive (a plant) of its tap-root.
| 1792 Trans. Soc. Arts X. 6 Young Oaks..are for the most part tapped at the time of removal. |
Hence
tapped (
tæpt),
ppl. a.1| 1670 W. Simpson Hydrol. Ess. 111, I caused a tap'd vessel to be filled. 1839 Ure Dict. Arts, etc. 158 Two tapped holes in the bar. 1874 Thearle Naval Archit. 79 Four of the rivets..are through, and four are tapped. 1880 C. R. Markham Peruv. Bark 459 Regularly tapped trees do not exceed 60 feet in height. 1881 W. E. Dickson Organ-Build. viii. 95 Tapped Wires..are pieces of wire about 3½ inches in length..and cut with a screw-thread upon about half their length. 1902 Marshall Metal Tools 63 The thread should be tried into a nut or tapped hole of the right size from time to time until a proper fit is arrived at. 1925 P. J. Risdon Crystal Receivers & Circuits 9 In the case of a tapped inductance coil, the wire is tapped at every turn for so many turns, for fine adjustment, and then once every few turns for coarse adjustment. 1964 L. Deighton Funeral in Berlin v. 37 Transcripts of tapped phone calls. 1978 D. Murphy Place Apart ii. 22 He called in a disguised message over the tapped phone that he would be over that evening. |
▪ VI. tap, v.2 (
tæp)
Forms: 3
tep, 5
tappe, 9
tapp, 5–
tap.
[ME. tapp-en, of echoic origin, either immediately in Eng. (cf. rap v.), or through F. taper in same sense (12th c. in Godef.).] 1. a. trans. To strike lightly, but clearly and audibly; rarely applied by meiosis to a sharp knock or rap.
to tap up, to rouse, cause to get up by tapping at the door.
to tap out, to mark or signify by a tap or series of taps; to cause to be produced thus;
spec. to type out (a letter, etc.).
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 296 Ne ȝif him neuer inȝong, auh tep him oðe schulle, uor he is eruh. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 487/1 Taspyn, palpo... Taspynge (K., P. tappynge), palpacio, palpitacio. 1603 Knolles Hist. Turks (1621) 971 Tapt the said Resuan once or twice about the pate. 1761 Sterne Tr. Shandy IV. Introd., This faithful slave..has carried me.., continued he, tapping the mule's back, above six hundred leagues. 1777 Cook Voy. Pacific ii. xi. (1784) I. 409 The person who is to pay obeisance, squats down before the Chief, and bows the head to the sole of his foot;..having tapped, or touched it with the under and upper side of the fingers of both hands, he rises up, and retires. 18.. Moore Song, The Woodpecker, Every leaf was at rest, and I heard not a sound, But the wood pecker tapping the hollow beech tree. 1839 Ure Dict. Arts 517 s.v. Founding, Before lifting off the frame, we must tap the pattern slightly, otherwise the sand enclosing it would stick to it. 1840 Marryat Poor Jack xxiv, I went to bed, was tapped up..by Bessy. 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair xxvi, He sate there tapping his boot with his cane. 1888 Burgon Lives 12 Gd. Men I. i. 71 He tapped my fingers in the way which was customary with him. 1903 R. Langbridge Flame & Flood i. 4 He was tapping out a cautious progress towards the women with a stick, letting himself down with a surprised bump upon each step. 1904 W. E. Norris in Longm. Mag. Dec. 168 A parchment-visaged priest..taps his insistent gong. 1912 Red Mag. Mar. 427/2 The clock of the Royal Exchange began to tap out the hour of nine. 1944 in B. A. Botkin Treas. S. Folklore (1949) iii. i. 447 He..tapped out ‘73’, which is the telegrapher's traditional symbol for goodby. 1952 M. Laski Village xviii. 248 Gerald tapped out a formal letter on the old typewriter. 1976 J. McClure Rogue Eagle ii. 27 Buchanan put down his cup where the writer carriage wouldn't bump it..and..tapped out the name of his freelance agency. |
b. To strike (the foot, hand, etc.) lightly upon something.
| a 1500 Ragman Roll 131 in Hazl. E.P.P. I. 75 And your foot ye tappyn, and ye daunce. 1820 W. Irving Sketch Bk., Rip Van Winkle, The bystanders began now to..tap their fingers against their foreheads. 1847 Tennyson Princ. Prol. 149 Upon the sward She tapt her tiny silken-sandal'd foot. |
c. To arrest (someone). Also in
phr. to tap on the shoulder.
slang.| [1785 Grose Dict. Vulgar T. sig. Z3, A tap on the shoulder, an arrest.] 1859 G. W. Matsell Vocabulum 89 Tap, to arrest. 1894 J. G. Littlechild Reminiscences of Chief-Inspector Littlechild xix. 193 We instructed him..to hint darkly that he was going to be ‘tapped’—i.e. taken into custody on charges connected with the forged cheques. 1968 [see do v. 11 l]. |
2. a. intr. and absol. To strike a light but distinct blow; to make a sound by so striking,
e.g. on a drum;
esp. to knock lightly
on or
at a door, etc. in order to attract attention. Also in reduplicated form
tap-tap and
varr., to tap repeatedly (
usu. as
pres. pple.).
| c 1425 Cast. Persev. 2111 in Macro Plays 140 Putte Mankynde fro þi castel clere, or I schal tappyn at þi tyre. 1791 Mrs. Radcliffe Rom. Forest x, She tapped gently at the door. 1831 Poe Raven iv, So faintly you came tapping. 1873 Black Pr. Thule xix, He tapped with his stick on one of the panes. 1888 F. Hume Mme. Midas i. ii, Tapping with his wooden leg on the floor. 1891 T. Hardy Tess xliv, They heard her footsteps tap along the hard road as she stepped out to her full pace. 1922 Joyce Ulysses 284 A stripling, blind, with a tapping cane, came taptaptapping by Daly's window. 1977 New Yorker 6 June 38/2 Two reels of thread escaped from it, rolled along the landing, and went tap-tapping down the stairs. 1982 R. Timperley Face in Leaves iv. 34, I heard her typewriter tap-tap-tapping. |
† b. spec. of a hare or rabbit: To make a drumming noise with the feet in rutting-time.
Obs.| 1575 Turberv. Venerie 238 A hare and a conie beateth or tappeth. 1650 [see tapping ppl. a. below]. 1706 Phillips (ed. 6) s.v., Among Hunters, a Hare is said to Tap or Beat, i.e. to make a Noise. 1711 Puckle Club (1817) 90 And told us..a goat rats, a boar freams, a hare tapps. |
c. To walk with sharp light steps.
| 1749 Fielding Tom Jones xi. ii, Old England for ever!..my brave lad! I am going to tap away directly. |
d. To sound,
esp. as a signal.
| 1887 A. J. Wilson At Mercy of Tiberius xxxiii. 576 Somewhere in the apartment, a bell tapped. Ibid. 577 The time has come; the drum taps, I must march away. 1915 C. Johnson Battleground Adventures liv. 419 A bell would tap for a waiter to come and take the team. |
3. trans. dial. and
U.S. To add a thickness of leather to the sole or heel of (a shoe) in repairing;
cf. tap n.2 3. Also
absol.| 1746 J. Hempstead Diary 1 Jan. (1901) 453, I tapt & nailed Jont. Pierpoints Shoes. 1781 in Narragansett Historical Reg. (1882) I. 284 Tapped a pair of shoes. 1818 J. Kitto in Eadie Life ii. (1861) 44 Set to tapping leather shoes to-day. 1846 Worcester Dict., Tap, to add a new sole or heel to a shoe. 1847–78 Halliw., Tap, to sole shoes. 1852 Knickerbocker XL. 149 There is also the shoemaker..who ‘taps’ for half the city price. 1880 W. Cornw. Gloss. s.v., The tap of your shoe is wearing; it wants tapping. |
4. To designate or select (a person) for a task, honour, or membership of an organization.
U.S. colloq.| 1952 E. O'Neill Moon for Misbegotten i. 55 He was tapped for an exclusive Senior Society at the Ivy university to which his father had given millions. 1972 J. Mosedale Football ii. 13 Sports Illustrated magazine tapped him..as its ‘Sportsman of the Year’. 1977 Time 23 May 13/3 Britain's youthful Foreign Secretary David Owen announced last week that he had tapped Jay, at 40, to serve as Ambassador to Washington. |
Hence
ˈtapping ppl. a.| 1650 Fuller Pisgah iii. ix. 338 Here..the beating Hares [are said] to forme, the tapping Conies to sit. 1816 Sporting Mag. XLVII. 177 The Oilman is a tapping and inoffensive hitter. 1890 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Col. Reformer (1891) 240 Far and faint..whips resound..like a tapping-bird or the snapping of dried sticks. |
▪ VII. tap Sc. dial. form of
top.