tape

[teyp]

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.

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

/ 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

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

Other Word Forms

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of tape¹

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”

Word History and Origins

Origin of tape¹

Old English tæppe; related to Old Frisian tapia to pull, Middle Dutch tapen to tear

Idioms and Phrases

see red tape.

Example Sentences

Flares were let off, ticker tape flickered in the air and a stunning tifo rose from the terraces with an accompanying banner reading "For my town, for my club".

Read more on BBC

He plays a key role in the creation of company keynotes, which used to be live, but since the pandemic have been taped.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Inside the reunion, the atmosphere brimmed with nostalgia as Romano and the show’s creator, Phil Rosenthal, hosted the live taping from the living room they once brought into millions of households each week.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

I also wanted to tape her while she was going through the old family albums, especially the sepia-toned photos from the early 1900s, and have her document who everyone was.

Read more on MarketWatch

Even in a tape this brutal, a handful of technology stocks are displaying impressive resilience as they firm up near support levels.

Read more on Barron's

Related Words

• line 
• rope