tape

American  

[teyp] / teɪp /

noun

1. a strip of cloth, paper, or plastic with an adhesive surface, used for sealing, binding, or attaching items together; adhesive tape or masking tape.

2. a long, narrow strip of fabric used for tying garments, binding seams or carpets, etc.

3. a long, narrow strip of paper, metal, etc.

4. tape measure.

5. magnetic tape.

6. a magnetic tape carrying recorded sound or images.

   I made a digital copy of that tape of Grandpa playing the violin.

7. a string stretched across the finishing line in a race and broken by the winning contestant on crossing the line.

8. ticker tape.

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verb (used with object)

taped, taping

1. to furnish with a tape or tapes.

2. to tie up, bind, or attach with tape.

3. to measure with or as if with a tape measure.

4. to record or prerecord on magnetic tape.

verb (used without object)

taped, taping

1. to record something on magnetic tape.

tape British  

/ 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. slang  military another word for stripe 1

5. See magnetic tape ticker tape paper tape tape recording

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verb

1. Also: tape-record.  (also intr) to record (speech, music, etc)

2. to furnish with tapes

3. to bind, measure, secure, or wrap with tape

4. informal  (usually passive) to take stock of (a person or situation); sum up

   he's got the job taped

tape Idioms  

1. see red tape.

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Other Word Forms

• pretape verb (used with object)
• retape verb (used with object)
• tapeless adjective
• tapelike adjective
• taper noun
• untaped adjective

Etymology

Origin of tape

First recorded 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”

Example Sentences

It has balanced the budget, improved government aid to the poor by removing political middlemen, and cut a tangle of red tape that was strangling business.

From The Wall Street Journal

The prime minister will also promise to cut "unnecessary red tape" in infrastructure after a report found the UK had become the most expensive place in the world to build nuclear power infrastructure.

From BBC

He has more customers waiting, attracted by his sign promising repairs "with high professionalism and without adhesive tape".

From BBC

The station's archived tapes have also recently been digitised and are publicly available at Manchester's Central Library.

From BBC

The tape was released by a former employee who sued Campbell’s and the executive earlier this month.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• line
• rope