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Added 9 October 2026

tap

/tæp/ noun

noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about tap at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

The sound made by a gentle blow.
A gentle blow.
A faucet for drawing water from a pipe or cask.

verb

Cut a female screw thread with a tap.
Draw from or dip into to get something.
tap one's memory
Strike lightly.
He tapped me on the shoulder

Origin

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.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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