How do you use the word "tap" in a sentence?

Here are real-life examples of using "tap": The tap is running. Your tap water is too hard. Get a water softener.

Tap Meaning

/tæp/

Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.

Definition

nounA conical peg or pin used to close and open the hole or vent in a container.

nounAn object with a tapering conical form like a tap (etymology 1, noun sense 1); specifically, ellipsis of taproot (“long, tapering root of a plant”).

Sentence Examples

The tap is running.

Your tap water is too hard. Get a water softener.

Synonyms & Antonyms

Synonyms:

tip rap pat

Antonyms:

None

CEFR Practice Quiz

The teacher asked the student to ____ the desk to get everyone's attention before starting the lesson.

CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)

I heard a gentle ____ on the window and I looked out to see a tiny bird perched on the ledge today.

Word Origin & History

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.

Literary Quotations & Historical Citations

"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." — 1843 December 19, Charles Dickens, “Stave Two. The First of the Three Spirits.”, in A Christmas Carol. […], London: Chapman & Hall, […], →OCLC, page 55:

"Those Norwegians and those Laps Have extraordinary taps: Those Laps especially have strange fancies: To see them drink, I verily think Would make me lose my senses." — 1825, Francesco Redi, translated by Leigh Hunt, Bacchus in Tuscany, a Dithyrambic Poem, […], London: […] [J. C. Kelly] for John and H[enry] L[eigh] Hunt, […], →OCLC, page 14:

"I wish my aunt would send down some of this to the governor; it's a precious good tap." — 1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, “James Crawley’s Pipe Is Put Out”, in Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, →OCLC, page 305:

"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."" — 2020 May 14, Fred Kaplan, “‘Obamagate’ wasn’t even a Scandal the First Time”, in Slate, New York, N.Y.: The Slate Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 30 May 2023:

"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." — 1678 January 11 – February 11 (Gregorian calendar), Joseph Moxon, “Numb[er] II. Applied to the Making of Hinges, Locks, Keys, Screws and Nuts Small and Great.”, in Mechanick Exercises, or The Doctrine of Handy-Works, […], volume I, London: […] Joseph Moxon, published 1683, →OCLC, page 31:

Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words