Tap, n. [Cf. F. tape. See Tap to strike.] 1. A gentle or slight blow; a
light rap; a pat. Addison.
2. A piece of leather fastened upon the bottom of a boot or shoe in
repairing or renewing the sole or heel.
3. pl. (Mil.) A signal, by drum or trumpet, for extinguishing all
lights in soldiers' quarters and retiring to bed, — usually given about
a quarter of an hour after tattoo. Wilhelm.
Tap, v. i. To strike a gentle blow.
Tap, n. [AS. tæppa, akin to D. tap, G. zapfen, OHG. zapfo, Dan. tap,
Sw. tapp, Icel. tappi. Cf. Tampion, Tip.] 1. A hole or pipe through
which liquor is drawn.
2. A plug or spile for stopping a hole pierced in a cask, or the like;
a faucet.
3. Liquor drawn through a tap; hence, a certain kind or quality of
liquor; as, a liquor of the same tap. [Colloq.]
4. A place where liquor is drawn for drinking; a taproom; a bar.
[Colloq.]
5. (Mech.) A tool for forming an internal screw, as in a nut,
consisting of a hardened steel male screw grooved longitudinally so as
to have cutting edges.
On tap. (a) Ready to be drawn; as, ale on tap. (b) Broached, or
furnished with a tap; as, a barrel on tap. — Plug tap (Mech.), a
screw-cutting tap with a slightly tapering end. — Tap bolt, a bolt with
a head on one end and a thread on the other end, to be screwed into
some fixed part, instead of passing through the part and receiving a
nut. See Illust. under Bolt. — Tap cinder (Metal.), the slag of a
puddling furnace.
Tap, v. t. 1. To pierce so as to let out, or draw off, a fluid; as, to
tap a cask, a tree, a tumor, etc.
2. Hence, to draw from (anything) in any analogous way; as, to tap
telegraph wires for the purpose of intercepting information; to tap the
treasury.