Word: tap Part of Speech: noun Etymology: The noun is derived from Middle English tappe (“hollow device for controlling the flow of liquid from a hole, cock, faucet, spigot; hole through which the liquid flows; the liquid which thus flows”), from Old English tæppa, from Proto-West Germanic *tappō, from Proto-Germanic *tappô (“a plug, tap; peg; tapering stick”), from Proto-Indo-European *deh₂p- (“to lose; to sacrifice”). Doublet of tapa. The verb is derived from Middle English tappen (“to obtain (liquid, chiefly liquor) from a tap; to obtain and sell (liquor)”), from Old English tæppian (“to provide (a container) with a stopper; to obtain (liquid) from a tap”), and then either: * from Old English tæppa (see above) + -ian (suffix forming verbs); or * from Proto-Germanic *tappōną, from *tappô (noun) (see above). Verb etymology 1, verb sense 1.3.5 (“to turn over (a playing card or playing piece) to remind players that it has already been used in that round”) alludes to the abilities or resources of the card or piece having been drawn on to the point of temporary exhaustion: see verb etymology 1, verb sense 1.3.2. Pronunciation: /tæp/, [tʰæp], /tɐːp/ 1. A conical peg or pin used to close and open the hole or vent in a container. 2. An object with a tapering conical form like a tap (etymology 1, noun sense 1); specifically, ellipsis of taproot (“long, tapering root of a plant”). Labels: broadly 3. 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. Labels: broadly Example: We don’t have bottled water; you’ll have to get it from the tap. Example: Is the tap water here safe to drink? 4. 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. Labels: broadly, informal Example: abdominal tap pleural tap spinal tap 5. Liquor drawn through a tap (etymology 1, noun sense 2.2); hence, a certain kind or quality of liquor; also (figurative, informal), a certain kind or quality of any thing. Labels: broadly Example: a liquor of the same tap Example: Here he produced a decanter of curiously light wine, and a block of curiously heavy cake, and administered instalments of those dainties to the young people: at the same time, sending out a meagre servant to offer a glass of "something" to the postboy, who answered that he thanked the gentleman, but if it was the same tap as he had tasted before, he had rather not. 6. A device used to listen in secretly on telephone calls or other communications. Labels: broadly 7. A secret interception of telephone calls or other communications using such a device; also, a recording of such a communication. Labels: broadly Example: telephone tap Example: It is true—and undisputed—that, in the weeks between the 2016 election and Trump's inauguration, several top Obama administration officials asked the National Security Agency to reveal the identity of an American citizen overheard on phone taps speaking with Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak—a request known as "unmasking." 8. 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. Labels: broadly Example: bond tap tap issue 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. Labels: broadly Example: We drilled a hole and then cut the threads with the proper tap to match the valve’s thread. Example: To fit the Pin therefore to a true ſize, I in my Practiſe uſe to try into vvhat Hole of the Screvv Plate, the Tap or place of the Tap, (if it be a tapering Tap,) I make the Nut vvith vvill juſt ſlide through; […] But if the Screvv-Tap have no Handle, then it hath its upper end Filed to a long ſquare, to fit into an hollovv ſquare, made near the Handle of the Screvv-Plate: Put that long ſquare hole over the long ſquare on the top of the Tap, and then by turning about the Screvv-Plate, you vvill alſo turn about the Tap in the Hole, and make Grooves and Threds in the Nut. 10. Ellipsis of taphouse or taproom (“place where alcoholic beverages are served on tap”). Labels: UK, abbreviation, alt-of, broadly, ellipsis Example: [H]ere has been nothing but canting and praying ſince the fellovv entered the place.—Rabbit him! the tap vvill be ruined—vve han't ſold a caſk of beer, nor a dozen of vvine, ſince he paid his garniſh—the gentlemen get drunk vvith nothing but your damned religion.— […] Example: Guard emerges from the tap, where he prefers breakfasting, […] 11. A connection made to an electrical or fluid conductor without breaking it; a tapping. Labels: UK, broadly Example: The system was barely keeping pressure due to all of the ill-advised taps along its length.