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

Too embarrassed to admit his mistake, he ends up pretending to tape their conversation.

From The Wall Street Journal

They arrived at the counter, its frosted-glass window taped with a smattering of flyers, some with print faded in the sun, the corners of their paper curling with age.

From Literature

There are about a dozen photos under a banner titled “Duct Tape Boat Regatta 2011–2018,” and each shows a variety of life-size rafts made of cardboard and duct tape.

From Literature

The study compared 12 different therapies, including laser therapy, electrical stimulation, knee braces, insoles, kinesiology tape, water-based therapy, exercise, and ultrasound.

From Science Daily

Jordan says when she was 4 she got up at the crack of dawn every day and put in a VHS tape of a ballet class that her mother, Mary Lim, had bought.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• line
• rope