taper1

[tey-per] /ˈteɪ pər/
verb (used without object)
1.
to become smaller or thinner toward one end.
2.
to grow gradually lean.
verb (used with object)
3.
to make gradually smaller toward one end.
4.
to reduce gradually.
noun
5.
gradual diminution of width or thickness in an elongated object.
6.
gradual decrease of force, capacity, etc.
7.
anything having a tapering form, as a spire or obelisk.
8.
a candle, especially a very slender one.
9.
a long wick coated with wax, tallow, or the like, as for use in lighting candles or gas.
Verb phrases
10.
taper off,
  1. to become gradually more slender toward one end.
  2. to cease by degrees; decrease; diminish:
    The storm is beginning to taper off now. I haven't stopped smoking entirely, but I'm tapering off to three cigarettes a day.
Origin
before 900; Middle English: wax candle, Old English, variant of tapur, dissimilated variant of *papur paper
Related forms
taperer, noun
taperingly, adverb
untapered, adjective
untapering, adjective

taper2

[tey-per] /ˈteɪ pər/
noun
1.
a person who records or edits magnetic tape, videotape, etc.
Origin
tape + -er1
Examples from the web for taper
  • We can promote music more effectively by making any one musician's share of the tax revenues taper off as copies increase.
  • She has been unable go off it despite repeated efforts to taper down her dose.
  • From time to time he wonders when business will taper off, but for now, he sees no signs of that.
  • Then they begin to taper off, diminishing in frequency over the next several days.
  • For generations, mainstream economists had expected growth in the industrialized countries to taper off.
  • Originally the suit's jacket was made without a waist seam to taper its fit.
  • So, the way to a soft landing is by building internal demand to pick up the slack when exports begin to taper off.
  • After that, incapacity payments taper to zero over five years.
  • Corporate investment in computer hardware, software and services is expected to taper off in response to a weaker economy.
  • But he did know that applying a lighted taper to the mixture produced an unprecedented bang.
British Dictionary definitions for taper

taper

/ˈteɪpə/
verb
1.
to become or cause to become narrower towards one end: the spire tapers to a point
2.
(often foll by off) to become or cause to become smaller or less significant
noun
3.
a thin candle
4.
a thin wooden or waxed strip for transferring a flame; spill
5.
a narrowing
6.
(engineering) (in conical parts) the amount of variation in the diameter per unit of length
7.
any feeble source of light
Derived Forms
taperer, noun
tapering, adjective
taperingly, adverb
Word Origin
Old English tapor, probably from Latin papӯruspapyrus (from its use as a wick)
Word Origin and History for taper
n.

Old English tapur, taper "candle," not found outside English, possibly a dissimilated borrowing from Latin papyrus (see papyrus), which was used in Medieval Latin and some Romance languages for "wick of a candle" (e.g. Italian papijo "wick"), because these often were made from the pith of papyrus. Cf. also German kerze "candle," from Old High German charza, from Latin charta, from Greek khartes "papyrus, roll made from papyrus, wick made from pith of papyrus."

v.

"shoot up like a flame or spire," 1580s, from taper (n.). Sense of "gradually decrease in size, force, etc." first recorded c.1600. Related: Tapered; tapering.