tape
Americannoun
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a strip of cloth, paper, or plastic with an adhesive surface, used for sealing, binding, or attaching items together; adhesive tape or masking tape.
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a long, narrow strip of fabric used for tying garments, binding seams or carpets, etc.
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a long, narrow strip of paper, metal, etc.
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a magnetic tape carrying recorded sound or images.
I made a digital copy of that tape of Grandpa playing the violin.
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a string stretched across the finishing line in a race and broken by the winning contestant on crossing the line.
verb (used with object)
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to furnish with a tape or tapes.
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to tie up, bind, or attach with tape.
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to measure with or as if with a tape measure.
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to record or prerecord on magnetic tape.
verb (used without object)
noun
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a long thin strip, made of cotton, linen, etc, used for binding, fastening, etc
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any long narrow strip of cellulose, paper, metal, etc, having similar uses
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a string stretched across the track at the end of a race course
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slang military another word for stripe 1
verb
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Also: tape-record. (also intr) to record (speech, music, etc)
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to furnish with tapes
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to bind, measure, secure, or wrap with tape
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informal (usually passive) to take stock of (a person or situation); sum up
he's got the job taped
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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tapesimple
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tapessimple
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have tapedperfect
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has tapedperfect
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am tapingprogressive
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are tapingprogressive
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is tapingprogressive
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have been tapingperfect progressive
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has been tapingperfect progressive
Past
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tapedsimple
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had tapedperfect
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was tapingprogressive
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were tapingprogressive
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had been tapingperfect progressive
Future
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”
Explanation
Tape is a sticky strip of material you can use for fastening paper or other light objects. You can use a piece of tape to tape a "Keep Out" sign to your bedroom door. A long strip marked with inches or centimeters is a measuring tape, and this is actually the earliest meaning of the word tape. It evolved to be used for many narrow strips, like the tape a marathon runner breaks through at the finish line, the crime scene tape that police use to mark off an area, or the tape you use for recording sound or video.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Previously, Justin was a Heard on the Street columnist and wrote the Ahead of the Tape column.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 18, 2026
Tape vendors Angela Medina and Miguel Alonso of Cheap Thrill Retro have been collecting VHS tapes for five years.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 27, 2025
Aristide Tape, the head of a neighbourhood association, did not share Bakayoko's enthusiasm.
From Barron's • Oct. 17, 2025
Subsequently, a court was told the defendant's mental health began to decline in 2023, with Tape becoming paranoid and then jealous.
From BBC • Sep. 1, 2025
Tape measures around their necks, and a welcome new supply of thimbles.
From "Secrets at Sea" by Richard Peck
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
