frequently_asked_questions_files/Oxford Thesaurus.pdf

tap° v. 1 rap, knock, dab, strike, peck; drum, beat: Must you
continually tap on the table with that blasted pencil?!
--n. 2 rap, knock, dab, strike, peck, pat; tapping, tap-tap,
rapping, knocking, pecking, beat, beating, patter, pattering: I
felt a tap on my shoulder. The tap, tap, tap of the dripping
water was driving me mad.
tapý n. 1 cock, stopcock, pet-cock, sillcock, seacock, spigot,
spout, valve, US faucet: Replace the washer in the tap to stop
the leak. 2 bung, stopper, cork, spile, plug, stopple, peg:
Move the tap from the empty barrel to the new one. 3 wire-tap,
bug, listening device, electronic eavesdropper: I think there's
a tap on my phone. 4 on tap. a on draught, out of the barrel
or keg: They have real ale on tap. b ready, available, on or
at hand, waiting, in reserve, on call: He promised to be on tap
if I needed him for anything.
--v. 5 drain, draw (off), siphon off or out, extract, withdraw:
We tapped the wine directly from the casks. 6 open, drain,
unplug, sap, bleed, milk, broach, mine, use, utilize, make use
of, put to use, draw on or upon, turn to account: Whenever she
needed money, she tapped her savings. 7 bug, eavesdrop on,
wire-tap: M.I.5 still taps her phone.
tape n. 1 strip, band, fillet, stripe, strap, belt, ribbon: She
wore a colourful woven tape round her head to hold her hair. 2
(tape) recording, reel, spool, cassette, video: He played us
the tape of the whole interview.
--v. 3 strap, band, bind; seal, stick: If you tape the packet,
customs cannot open it for inspection. 4 record; tape-record,
video: Programmes can be taped automatically when we are out.
taper v. 1 narrow (down), thin, diminish, come or go down: Note how
the trousers taper towards the ankles. 2 Often, taper off.
diminish, reduce, thin out, wind down, decrease, fade, lessen,
peter out, fall off, wane, subside, let up, slacken, die away or
down or off or out, decline, slow (down or up), weaken, abate,
ebb, slump, drop (off), fall (off), plummet: Sales of ice
skates can be expected to taper off during the summer.