tapas

American  

[tuhp-uhs] / ˈtʌp əs /

noun

Yoga.

1. the conditioning of the body through the proper kinds and amounts of diet, rest, bodily training, meditation, etc., to bring it to the greatest possible state of creative power.

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tapas British  

/ ˈtæpəs /

plural noun

1. 1. light snacks or appetizers, usually eaten with drinks

   2. ( as modifier )

      a tapas bar

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Etymology

Origin of tapas

First recorded in 1930–35; from Sanskrit: “penance,” literally, “heat”; akin to Latin tepēre “to be lukewarm” ( see tepid ( def. ))

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

tapas

The very concept of ordering tapas at a gas station might raise eyebrows.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 6, 2026

Three-year-old Madeleine vanished from her family's holiday apartment in Portugal's Praia da Luz in May 2007 while her parents dined at a nearby tapas bar.

From Barron's ● Oct. 23, 2025

I am a master of sitting in a hotel room and finishing some not-even-that-time-sensitive work when I should be out at a tapas bar on a nominal vacation.

From Slate ● Jul. 20, 2025

And like the rest of modern Hong Kong, that menu met the decades with growing diversity, culminating in choices from fast food burgers and tapas to black truffle potstickers and wagyu beef sliders.

From Salon ● Jul. 12, 2025

“This food was better than anything you could possibly find at the top tapas restaurants in Barcelona.”

From "The Smartest Kid in the Universe" by Chris Grabenstein