taper

[ tey-per ]

/ ˈteɪ pər /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR taper ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used without object)

to become smaller or thinner toward one end.

to grow gradually lean.

verb (used with object)

to make gradually smaller toward one end.

to reduce gradually.

noun

gradual diminution of width or thickness in an elongated object.

gradual decrease of force, capacity, etc.

anything having a tapering form, as a spire or obelisk.

a candle, especially a very slender one.

a long wick coated with wax, tallow, or the like, as for use in lighting candles or gas.

Verb Phrases

taper off,

to become gradually more slender toward one end.
to cease by degrees; decrease; diminish: The storm is beginning to taper off now. I haven't stopped smoking entirely, but I'm tapering off to three cigarettes a day.

Nearby words

Origin of taper

before 900; Middle English: wax candle, Old English, variant of tapur, dissimilated variant of *papur paper

Related formsta·per·er, nounta·per·ing·ly, adverbun·ta·pered, adjectiveun·ta·per·ing, adjective

Can be confusedtaper tapir

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for tapering

She would never have used the “T” word, “tapering,” because unemployment remains unconcionably high.
Janet Yellen Won’t Change the Fed|Russ Roberts|October 9, 2013|DAILY BEAST
In June, Bernanke had said that the tapering could start only once gains in the labor market seemed persistent and safe.
Stock Market Soars on Fed’s Bond-Buying Announcement|Daniel Gross|September 18, 2013|DAILY BEAST
If interest rates jump in response to Fed tapering, whoever chairs the Fed will slow or suspend it.
Congress and China Pose Biggest Threats to U.S. Economic Expansion|Robert Shapiro|September 5, 2013|DAILY BEAST
The tapering of certain letters indicates the laudable trait of tact.
For Presidential Hopefuls, the Handwriting Says It All|Sheila Kurtz|January 11, 2012|DAILY BEAST

The Mundiru is a double roofed building, the upper roof short and tapering.
Phallic Miscellanies|Hargrave Jennings
The outline of the leafy part is triangular in form, and on either side of the rachis are the tapering pinnæ.
How to Know the Ferns|S. Leonard Bastin
But I lived long enough among them to look upon a tapering waist as a disgusting deformity.
Mizora: A Prophecy|Mary E. Bradley
The tapering, covered-in body will be observed; this is to reduce wind resistance as the machine rushes through the air.
The Aeroplane|Claude Grahame-White and Harry Harper
It consists of a socket into which slides a pencil by hard friction, and to which is hinged a tapering, pointed leg.
Scientific American Supplement, No. 514, November 7, 1885|Various

British Dictionary definitions for tapering

taper

/ (ˈteɪpə) /

verb

to become or cause to become narrower towards one endthe spire tapers to a point

(often foll by off) to become or cause to become smaller or less significant

noun

a thin candle

a thin wooden or waxed strip for transferring a flame; spill

a narrowing

engineering (in conical parts) the amount of variation in the diameter per unit of length

any feeble source of light

Derived Formstaperer, nountapering, adjectivetaperingly, adverb

Word Origin for taper

Old English tapor, probably from Latin papӯrus papyrus (from its use as a wick)

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for tapering

taper

Old English tapur, taper "candle," not found outside English, possibly a dissimilated borrowing from Latin papyrus (see papyrus), which was used in Medieval Latin and some Romance languages for "wick of a candle" (e.g. Italian papijo "wick"), because these often were made from the pith of papyrus. Cf. also German kerze "candle," from Old High German charza, from Latin charta, from Greek khartes "papyrus, roll made from papyrus, wick made from pith of papyrus."

taper

"shoot up like a flame or spire," 1580s, from taper (n.). Sense of "gradually decrease in size, force, etc." first recorded c.1600. Related: Tapered; tapering.

taper

verb (used without object)

verb (used with object)

noun

Verb Phrases

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of taper

Examples from the Web for tapering

taper

verb

noun

Word Origin for taper

taper

taper