taper

[tey-per]

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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.

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

Related Words for tapering

sharp, pointed, tapered, conic, acuminate, taper, wedged, pyramidal, conical, acuminous, fusiform

Examples from the Web for tapering

Contemporary Examples of 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
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
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
The tapering of certain letters indicates the laudable trait of tact.
For Presidential Hopefuls, the Handwriting Says It All
Sheila Kurtz
January 11, 2012

Historical Examples of tapering

The stem is quite short, tapering downward, dark green, scaly.
The Mushroom, Edible and Otherwise
M. E. Hard
In the plant on the right is shown the tapering stem from the base to the apex.
The Mushroom, Edible and Otherwise
M. E. Hard
The stem is inflated, stuffed, rather long, tapering downward.
The Mushroom, Edible and Otherwise
M. E. Hard
From this rises a tapering shaft of about twenty-eight feet.
Christopher Columbus and His Monument Columbia
Various
Clusters small, slender, tapering, usually single-shouldered.
Manual of American Grape-Growing
U. P. Hedrick

British Dictionary definitions for tapering

taper

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.