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tap

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verb British English pronunciation: tap /tæp/ 
Word Forms
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present tense
I/you/we/theytap
he/she/ittaps
present participletapping
past tensetapped
past participletapped
  1. 1
    [intransitive/transitive] Sound effect: tap to touch someone or something gently and to move them slightly, or to make a soft knocking sound

    Michael tapped his nose with his forefinger.

    He tapped another code into the computer.

    Several young men sat tapping away at keyboards (=using computers).

    tap at/on/against:

    We could hear someone tapping at the door.

    tap someone on something:

    I tapped him on the shoulder and he jumped.

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of  tapThesaurus entry for this meaning of tap
  3. 3
    [transitive] to get a substance from a particular place or object

    The scheme aimed to tap underground water resources.

    tapping trees for rubber

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of  tapThesaurus entry for this meaning of tap
    1. a.
      informal to get money from a particular person
      tap someone for something:

      I’ll have to tap Mum for my bus fare.

      Thesaurus entry for this meaning of  tapThesaurus entry for this meaning of tap
  4. 4

    tap

     or

    tap into

     [transitive] if you tap something such as someone’s ability or a supply of information, you use it or get some benefit from it

    Are you tapping your staff’s full potential?

    Several other companies were already tapping this market.

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of  tapThesaurus entry for this meaning of tap

phrasal verbs

This is the British English definition of tap. View American English definition of tap.

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