Tape Meaning
/teɪ̯p/Definition, CEFR level A2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounFlexible material in a roll with a sticky surface on one or both sides; adhesive tape.
nounThin and flat paper, plastic or similar flexible material, usually produced in the form of a roll.
Sentence Examples
Did you tape that concert?
I paid 40,000 yen for this tape recorder.
The tape recorder is a useful aid to teaching.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The artist needed to ____ the canvas to the frame before painting to keep it tight.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Please use some adhesive ____ to fix the small tear in the corner of this important document before we file it today.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English tape, tappe, from Old English tæppa, tæppe (“ribbon, tape”); further origin unclear. Probably akin to Old Frisian tapia (“to pull, rip, tear”), Middle Low German tappen, tāpen (“to grab, pull, rip, tear, snatch”), Middle High German zāfen, zāven (“to pull, tear”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"So we went around the corner, looked in the garbage, and, boom, there's about 16 of the tapes he didn't like!"
— 1993, Vibe, volume 1, number 2:
"“It was one of the most severe beatings they’ve seen on tape,” an FDNY insider said, recalling the reaction by brass who viewed video of the bloody fisticuffs."
— 2018 August 18, Susan Edelman, New York Post:
"[…] who is now puffing his pipe and sipping his grog, as unconcerned as a Dutch fiddler at a merry-making, has no business here selling his cheese and candles in the day-time, and his yards of tape in the evening: […] and now then for the tape-shop. […]"
— 1817, The White Dwarf: A London Weekly Publication, page 222:
"A tumbler of blue ruin fill, fill for me! / Red tape those as likes it may drain, / But whatever the lush, it a bumper must be. / […] / Oh! those jovial days are ne'er forgot! But the tape lags—When I be's dead, you'll drink one put To poor old Bags!"
— 1830, [Edward Bulwer-Lytton], Paul Clifford. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC:
"[When dealing with the] Federal Government, "red tape" is unavoidable. Perseverance, good humor and thoroughness will almost invariably cut through the "tape” or lead to the proper official where courteous and attentive treatment will be received."
— 1923, Henry C. Clark, Departmental Practice, Admission of Attorneys, Etc, page 7:
Explore More A2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The artist needed to ____ the canvas to the frame before painting to keep it tight.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Please use some adhesive ____ to fix the small tear in the corner of this important document before we file it today.