taps

American  

[taps] / tæps /

noun

(used with a singular or plural verb)

1. a signal by bugle or drum, sounded at night as an order to extinguish all lights, and sometimes performed as a postlude to a military funeral.

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taps British  

/ tæps /

noun

1. 1. (in army camps, etc) a signal given on a bugle, drum, etc, indicating that lights are to be put out

   2. any similar signal, as at a military funeral

2. (in the Guide movement) a closing song sung at an evening camp fire or at the end of a meeting

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Etymology

Origin of taps

1815–25, probably tap(too) , variant of tattoo ¹ + -s ³

Example Sentences

The Mastercard of the IPO era was all about card swipes — not dips and taps — and “our main focus was cash displacement,” said Jorn Lambert, the company’s chief product officer.

From MarketWatch • May 25, 2026

Cubans have suffered power outages of up to 20 hours a day and taps running dry.

From Barron's • May 21, 2026

While neither of the “Devil Wears Prada” movies revolve around Christianity, the invocation of the devil taps into an older moral rhetoric.

From Salon • May 17, 2026

Spread across the sculpted dash contours is an extra widescreen display, combining the driver information center and center touch-screen functions, its field of crisply animated icons and graphics navigated with the usual swipes and taps.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 16, 2026

Grandpa leans forward and taps the tip of my nose gently.

From "Finding Junie Kim" by Ellen Oh