tapping up

British

noun

informal (esp of a professional soccer club) the illicit practice of attempting to recruit a player while he is still bound by contract to another team

"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

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.

The researchers observed colorful dyeing poison dart frogs tapping up to 500 times per minute, or more than three times as fast as Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off.”

From New York Times • Feb. 17, 2024

Producer Quincy Jones tried to head off any hubris by tapping up a sign: “Check Your Ego at the Door.”

From Seattle Times • Jan. 29, 2024

He seemed to be constantly tapping up Mailer and Burroughs for some kind of endorsement.

From Slate • Dec. 2, 2015

While the sums may change, some of the transfer tactics do not, with Villa fined £25 over allegations of tapping up players.

From BBC • Aug. 26, 2014

Bill Koontz was sitting at the counter tapping up tostada crumbs with his middle finger and licking them off when Joe and his people walked in.

From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023