TAPPING • DICCIONARIO INGLES.COM • Definition of Tapping

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/tˈæpɪŋ/ Listen

verb

Tap v. t. (past & past part. tapped; pres. part. tapping)

1.

To strike with a slight or gentle blow; to touch gently; to rap lightly; to pat; as, to tap one with the hand or a cane.

2.

To put a new sole or heel on; as, to tap shoes.

Tap v. t.

1.

To pierce so as to let out, or draw off, a fluid; as, to tap a cask, a tree, a tumor, a keg of beer, etc.

2.

Hence, to draw resources from (a reservoir) in any analogous way; as, to tap someone's knowledge of the Unix system; to tap the treasury.

3.

To draw, or cause to flow, by piercing. "He has been tapping his liquors."

4.

(Mech.) To form an internal screw in (anything) by means of a tool called a tap; as, to tap a nut, a pipe, or tubing.

5.

To connect a listening device to (a telephone or telegraph line) secretly, for the purpose of hearing private conversations; also, to obtain or record (information) by tapping; a technique used by law enforcement agencies investigating suspected criminals. In the United States it is illegal without a court order permitting it.

Tap v. i. To strike a gentle blow.

See images of 'Tapping'

Etymology of 'Tapping'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Tapping" Quotes from Famous Books

... The tapping took place in chapel the last week of classes. After the first hymn, the retiring members of the Boule rose and marched down the aisle to where the juniors were sitting. The new members were tapped in the order of the number of votes that they had received, and the first man tapped, ...

— The Plastic Age • Percy Marks

... a few more minutes in tapping gingerly at the dressing-room door, until at last, emboldened by the silence, she opened it, and, peering in, beheld nothing but emptiness. Mrs. Granger had gone to the drawing-room perhaps; but where ...

— The Lovels of Arden • M. E. Braddon

... so—maybe just greens—but, anyway, you've got to go on the Q. T. with this job—no noise, don't even whisper unless you have to; just listen for all you're worth. P'r'aps you'll hear that little tap-tap-tapping that tells where Fritzie Mole is at work. Then if you come back and tell the old man where it is, he'll give you all the cigarettes you want. But say, do you want me to give you a pointer on the way to go, the method of procedure, as the old man ...

— The Valley of Vision • Henry Van Dyke

... was going to express my gratitude to the Queen I heard a tapping at the door of my room, which opened upon the Queen's inner corridor. I opened it; it was the King. I was confused; he perceived it, and said to me, kindly: "I alarm you, Madame Campan; I come, however, to comfort you; the Queen has told me how much she is hurt at the injustice of several persons ...

— Marguerite de Navarre - Memoirs of Marguerite de Valois Queen of Navarre • Marguerite de Navarre

... tapping on the window-pane, saw who it was, and believing that he had come to steal his wife from him, he clenched his fists, and, as the slim young man jumped down into the room, crushed him almost dead in his ...

— Atlantic Monthly, Vol. II., November, 1858., No. XIII. • Various

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