tap

tap

I

tap¹ S3 /tæp/ noun
1.  WATER/GAS  [countable] especially British English a piece of equipment for controlling the flow of water, gas etc from a pipe or container
   SYN  faucet American English:
    Tap water (=water that comes out of a tap) is usually heavily treated with chemicals.
    She went into the bathroom and turned on the taps.
    kitchen/bath/garden tap
    I washed my hands under the kitchen tap.
    cold/hot tap (=the tap that cold or hot water comes from)
2.  A LIGHT HIT  [countable] an act of hitting something lightly, especially to get someone’s attention
    tap at/on
    She felt a tap on her shoulder.
    There was a tap at the door.
3. on tap
  a. beer that is on tap comes from a barrel
  b. informal something that is on tap is ready to use when you need it:
    We’ve got all the information on tap.
4.  DANCING  [uncountable] (also tap dancing) dancing in which you wear special shoes with pieces of metal on the bottom which make a loud sharp sound on the floor
5.  TELEPHONE  [countable] an act of secretly listening to someone’s telephone, using electronic equipment:
    The police had put a tap on his phone line.
6.  BARREL  [countable] a specially shaped object used for letting liquid out of a barrel, especially beer
7.  TUNE taps [plural] a song or tune played on the bugle at night in an army camp, and at military funerals
     

COLLOCATIONS

(for Meaning 1)

■ verbs
   ▪ turn on a tap Run some cold water into the bath before turning on the hot tap.
   ▪ turn off a tap I forgot to turn the tap off.
   ▪ run a tap (=make water flow out of it) She stood at the sink, running the tap to get a glass of cold water.
   ▪ a tap is running (=water is flowing out of it) I think you must have left the tap running.
   ▪ a tap is dripping (=drops of water are coming out of it) If the tap is dripping, change the washer.
■ ADJECTIVES/NOUN + tap
   ▪ the cold/hot tap She scrubbed her hands under the cold tap.
   ▪ the kitchen/bath/garden tap The water coming out of the kitchen tap had an odd smell.
   ▪ a mixer tap British English (=one through which cold and hot water can run together) He fitted a mixer tap to the bath.
   ▪ a running tap Wash the cut under a running tap.
   ▪ a dripping tap I could hear a dripping tap.
   ▪ a leaking/leaky tap (=with drops of water coming from the end ) The leaky tap had left a stain in the washbasin.
■ tap + NOUN
   ▪ tap water (=water that comes out of a tap) In the test, people preferred tap water to bottled mineral waters.
     

COLLOCATIONS

(for Meaning 2)

■ adjectives
   ▪ a gentle/light/soft tap There was a gentle tap on the door.
   ▪ a sharp tap A few sharp taps with a hammer will force the nail through the surface.
■ verbs
   ▪ give something/somebody a tap She gave the dog a gentle tap with her umbrella.

II

tap² verb (past tense and past participle tapped, present participle tapping)1.  HIT LIGHTLY  [intransitive and transitive] to hit your fingers lightly on something, for example to get someone’s attention
    tap somebody on the shoulder/arm/chest etc
    He turned as someone tapped him on the shoulder.
    tap on
    I went up and tapped on the window.
    tap something on/against/from etc something
    Mark tapped his fingers on the tabletop impatiently.
    She tapped ash from her cigarette.
2.  MUSIC  [transitive] to make a regular pattern of sounds with your fingers or feet, especially when you are listening to music:
    She tapped her feet in time to the music.
    a toe-tapping tune
3.  ENERGY/MONEY  [transitive] (also tap into) to use or take what is needed from something such as an energy supply or an amount of money:
    People are tapping into the power supply illegally.
    We hope that additional sources of funding can be tapped.
4.  IDEAS  [transitive] (also tap into) to make as much use as possible of the ideas, experience, knowledge etc that a group of people has:
    Your adviser’s experience is there to be tapped.
    helping people tap into training opportunities
5.  TELEPHONE  [transitive] to listen secretly to someone’s telephone by using a special piece of electronic equipment:
    Murray’s phone calls to Australia were tapped.
6.  TREE  [transitive] to get liquid from the trunk of a tree by making a hole in it
7.  PLAYER  [transitive] (also tap up) British English informal if a football club taps a player from another team, it illegally tries to persuade that player to join its team
tap something ↔ in (also tap something into something) phrasal verb British English
  to put information, numbers etc into a computer, telephone etc by pressing buttons or keys:
    Tap in your password before you log on.
     
tap something ↔ out phrasal verb
  1. to hit something lightly, especially with your fingers or foot, in order to make a pattern of sounds:
    He whistled the tune and tapped out the rhythm.
  2. to write something with a computer:
    Brian tapped out a name on his small electronic organizer.