tag

¹ American  

[tag] / tæg /

noun

1. a piece or strip of strong paper, plastic, metal, leather, etc., for attaching by one end to something as a mark or label.

   The price is on the tag.

2. any small hanging or loosely attached part or piece; tatter.

3. a loop of material sewn on a garment so that it can be hung up.

4. a metal or plastic tip at the end of a shoelace, cord, or the like.

5. a license plate for a motor vehicle.

6. Angling. a small piece of tinsel or the like tied to the shank of a hook at the body of an artificial fly.

7. the tail end or concluding part, as of a proceeding.

8. the last words of a speech, scene, act, etc., as in a play; a curtain line.

9. Digital Technology.

   1. Also called sentinel. a symbol, mark, or other labeling device indicating the beginning or end of a unit of information.

   2. Also called markup tag. such a label or string of characters within angle brackets, used to specify format, structure, or style in an electronic document or web page.

   3. Also called semantic tag. such a label taking the form of a keyword or short phrase, used to classify or organize digital data, aid online searches, etc.

10. an addition to a speech or writing, as the moral of a fable.

11. a quotation added for special effect.

12. a descriptive word or phrase applied to a person, group, organization, etc., as a label or means of identification; epithet.

13. a trite phrase or saying; cliché.

14. Slang. a person's name, nickname, initials, monogram, or symbol.

15. tag question.

16. a traffic ticket.

17. a curlicue in writing.

18. a lock of hair.

19. a matted lock of wool on a sheep.

20. Fox Hunting. the white tip of the tail of a fox.

21. Obsolete. the rabble.

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verb (used with object)

tagged, tagging

1. to furnish with a tag or tags; attach a tag to.

2. to append as a tag, addition, or afterthought to something else.

3. to attach or give an epithet to; label.

4. to accuse of a violation, especially of a traffic law; give a traffic ticket to.

   He was tagged for speeding. The police officer tagged the cars for overtime parking.

5. to hold answerable or accountable for something; attach blame to.

   The pitcher was tagged with the loss of the game.

6. to set a price on; fix the cost of.

   The dealer tagged the boat at $500 less than the suggested retail price.

7. to write graffiti on.

8. Informal. to follow closely.

   I tagged him to an old house on the outskirts of town.

9. to remove the tags of wool from (a sheep).

verb (used without object)

tagged, tagging

1. to follow closely; go along or about as a follower.

   to tag after someone; to tag along behind someone.

2. to write graffiti.

tag ² American  

[tag] / tæg /

noun

1. a children's game in which one player chases the others in an effort to touch one of them, who then takes the role of pursuer.

2. Baseball. an act or instance of tagging a base runner.

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verb (used with object)

tagged, tagging

1. to touch in or as if in the game of tag.

2. Baseball.

   1. to touch (a base runner) with the ball held in the hand or glove.

   2. to hit (a pitched ball) solidly.

   3. to make a number of hits or runs as specified in batting against (a pitcher).

      They tagged him for two hits in the first and three hits and two runs in the third.

3. Boxing. to strike (an opponent) with a powerful blow.

verb phrase

1. tag up (of a base runner) to touch the base occupied before attempting to advance a base, after the catch of a fly ball.

   He tagged up and scored from third on a long fly to center.

tag ¹ British  

/ tæɡ /

noun

1. Also called: tig. a children's game in which one player chases the others in an attempt to catch one of them who will then become the chaser

2. the act of tagging one's partner in tag wrestling

3. (modifier) denoting or relating to a wrestling contest between two teams of two wrestlers, in which only one from each team may be in the ring at one time. The contestant outside the ring may change places with his team-mate inside the ring after touching his hand

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verb

1. to catch (another child) in the game of tag

2. (in tag wrestling) to touch the hand of (one's partner)

tag ² British  

/ tæɡ /

noun

1. a piece or strip of paper, plastic, leather, etc, for attaching to something by one end as a mark or label

   a price tag

2. Also called: electronic tag. an electronic device worn, usually on the wrist or ankle, by an offender serving a noncustodial sentence, which monitors the offender's whereabouts by means of a link to a central computer through the telephone system

3. a small piece of material hanging from or loosely attached to a part or piece

4. a point of metal or other hard substance at the end of a cord, lace, etc, to prevent it from fraying and to facilitate threading

5. an epithet or verbal appendage, the refrain of a song, the moral of a fable, etc

6. a brief quotation, esp one in a foreign language

   his speech was interlarded with Horatian tags

7. grammar

   1. Also called: tag question. a clause added on to another clause to invite the hearer's agreement or conversational cooperation. Tags are usually in the form of a question with a pronoun as subject, the antecedent of which is the subject of the main clause; as isn't it in the bread is on the table, isn't it?

   2. a linguistic item added on to a sentence but not forming part of it, as John in are you there, John?

8. an ornamental flourish as at the end of a signature

9. the contrastingly coloured tip to an animal's tail

10. a matted lock of wool or hair

11. angling a strand of tinsel, wire, etc, tied to the body of an artificial fly

12. slang a graffito consisting of a nickname or personal symbol

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verb

1. to mark with a tag

2. to monitor the whereabouts of (an offender) by means of an electronic tag

3. to add or append as a tag

4. to supply (prose or blank verse) with rhymes

5. (intr; usually foll by on or along) to trail (behind)

   many small boys tagged on behind the procession

6. to name or call (someone something)

   they tagged him Lanky

7. to cut the tags of wool or hair from (an animal)

8. slang to paint one's tag on (a building, wall, etc)

tag Scientific  

/ tăg /

1. A sequence of characters in a markup language used to provide information, such as formatting specifications, about a document. Tags are enclosed in a pair of angle brackets that indicate to the browser how the text is to be displayed.

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Other Word Forms

• tagger
  noun
• taglike
  adjective

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Etymology

Origin of tag¹

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English tagge (noun); cognate with Middle Low German, Norwegian tagge, Swedish tagg “pointed protruding part”; akin to tack ¹

Origin of tag²

First recorded in 1730–40; perhaps special use of tag ¹

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Explanation

Tag! You're it! Tag is a playground game in which you try to catch other players. A tag is also a label or marker that provides some information about the thing it's attached to, like the tag inside the neck of your sweater. Items for sale often display price tags, and people at a social event sometimes wear name tags. You can also use tag as a verb to mean "to mark with a tag." This word has many colloquial meanings too, including "nickname" and "identifying graffiti mark." There's also the verb meaning "to touch another player in a game of tag."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

tag tagged tagging

When Dominika Mikitiuk, a veterinarian visiting from eastern Poland, saw the bridge and heard the $314 million price tag, the 30-year-old had one question: “Just for that?”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026

I fell in love with a wedding dress on TikTok, but my heart broke when I saw its $14,000 price tag.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 13, 2026

He said Kerr would come to visit in the morning or afternoon but had to leave by 20:00 because he was on an electronic tag.

From BBC ● Oct. 12, 2026

Clarkson disputed the explanation, saying she had pointed to a $15,000 price tag and been told the bird was available.

From Salon ● Oct. 12, 2026

He liked playing tag with a bit of hare-skin, and when the cub pounced on him he rolled on the ground, making odd yip-and-yowls which the cub guessed was his way of laughing.

From "Wolf Brother" by Michelle Paver

The affidavit identifies the woman with the initials “JK” and alleges the dispute broke out on the morning of Aug. 28 after Ross confronted the woman about being tagged in an Instagram photo.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026

A total of £830.69 million represented tagged sums - the amount paid by the club's owners.

From BBC ● Sep. 29, 2026

The J. Paul Getty Museum claims over 3,200 works simply titled Portrait of a Woman, including variations tagged with young, girl or lady.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 26, 2026

Qiu, Yang and Dai tagged that carbon ion with deuterium, an isotope of hydrogen, allowing them to follow what happened to it as the reaction progressed.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 21, 2026

The walls still standing are tagged with paint.

From "All The Bright Places" by Jennifer Niven

The E3 ligase enzyme cleans up the cell, tagging proteins that are damaged or misfolded for destruction.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026

Nepal has buried more than 1,200 bodies, carefully numbering and tagging them so they can be retrieved if a DNA match is found.

From Barron's ● Oct. 2, 2026

Simon also questioned whether electronic tagging would be an effective safeguard, saying the equipment "will tell you where someone is but it can't stop them from doing something they shouldn't be doing".

From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026

That experiment suggested that excessive sugar tagging could play a direct role in the memory problems seen in the animals rather than simply occurring alongside them.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 27, 2026

A serious headache was overtaking me by the time I headed for study hall with Danny tagging behind.

From "Warriors Don't Cry: A Searing Memoir of the Battle to Integrate Little Rock's Central High" by Melba Pattillo Beals

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Related Words

• badge
• button
• card
• chip
• identification
• insignia
• logo
• marker
• pin
• stamp
• sticker

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