tape

[teyp] /teɪp/
noun
1.
a long, narrow strip of linen, cotton, or the like, used for tying garments, binding seams or carpets, etc.
2.
a long, narrow strip of paper, metal, etc.
3.
a strip of cloth, paper, or plastic with an adhesive surface, used for sealing, binding, or attaching items together; adhesive tape or masking tape.
4.
tape measure.
5.
a string stretched across the finishing line in a race and broken by the winning contestant on crossing the line.
6.
ticker tape.
7.
magnetic tape.
8.
a magnetic tape carrying prerecorded sound:
a tape of a rock concert.
verb (used with object), taped, taping.
9.
to furnish with a tape or tapes.
10.
to tie up, bind, or attach with tape.
11.
to measure with or as if with a tape measure.
12.
to record or prerecord on magnetic tape.
verb (used without object), taped, taping.
13.
to record something on magnetic tape.
Origin
before 1000; Middle English; unexplained variant of tappe, Old English tæppe strip (of cloth), literally, part torn off; akin to Middle Low German teppen to tear, pluck
Related forms
tapeless, adjective
tapelike, adjective
pretape, verb (used with object), pretaped, pretaping.
retape, verb (used with object), retaped, retaping.
untaped, adjective
Examples from the web for tape
  • Remove the protective backing on the double-stick tape on the top edge and affix the film to it.
  • Attach with small pieces of double-stick foam mounting tape.
  • Corruption and red tape continue to handicap its business environment.
  • The wretched official whose business it was to provide for the wants of the hospital was tied fast hand and foot by red tape.
  • Have extra rollers and tape on hand in case paint saturates a roller and causes the tape to come loose.
  • tape the copies onto the self-adhesive paper and trace over them with the knife.
  • For tender-stemmed blooms such as tulips and hyacinths, skip the rubber band and secure with floral tape only.
  • With a putty knife, take a little of the prepared mix and press it down into seams covered with tape.
  • After it dried, he ran masking tape across the fence and applied darker blue paint along the bottom.
  • tape together the box-top flaps, then cut along three sides of the top so that a hinged lid remains.
British Dictionary definitions for tape

tape

/teɪp/
noun
1.
a long thin strip, made of cotton, linen, etc, used for binding, fastening, etc
2.
any long narrow strip of cellulose, paper, metal, etc, having similar uses
3.
a string stretched across the track at the end of a race course
4.
(military, slang, mainly Brit) another word for stripe1 (sense 3)
5.
See magnetic tape, ticker tape, paper tape, tape recording
verb (mainly transitive)
6.
(also intransitive) Also tape-record. to record (speech, music, etc)
7.
to furnish with tapes
8.
to bind, measure, secure, or wrap with tape
9.
(usually passive) (Brit, informal) to take stock of (a person or situation); sum up: he's got the job taped
Derived Forms
tapelike, adjective
taper, noun
Word Origin
Old English tæppe; related to Old Frisian tapia to pull, Middle Dutch tapen to tear
Word Origin and History for tape
n.

Old English tæppe "narrow strip of cloth used for tying, measuring, etc.," of uncertain origin, perhaps a back-formation from Latin tapete "carpet." The original short vowel became long in Middle English.

Tape recorder "device for recording sound on magnetic tape" first attested 1932; from earlier meaning "device for recording data on ticker tape" (1892), from tape in the sense of "paper strip of a printer" (1884). Tape-measure is attested from 1873; tape-delay is from 1968.

v.

c.1600, from tape (n.); meaning "to make a tape recording" is from 1950. Related: Taped; taping.

Slang definitions & phrases for tape

tape

Related Terms

red tape


tape in Technology


1. magnetic tape.
2. paper tape.
(1996-05-25)

Idioms and Phrases with tape

tape

see: red tape