He has been tapping his liquors.
Addison.
4. (Mech.) To form an internal screw in (anything) by means of a tool
called a tap; as, to tap a nut.
||Ta"pa (?), n. A kind of cloth prepared by the Polynesians from the
||inner bark of the paper mulberry; — sometimes called also kapa.
||
||Ta`pa*yax"in (?), n. (Zoöl.) A Mexican spinous lizard (Phrynosoma
||orbiculare) having a head somewhat like that of a toad; — called also
||horned toad.
||
Tape (?), n. [AS. tæppe a fillet. Cf. Tapestry, Tippet.] 1. A narrow
fillet or band of cotton or linen; a narrow woven fabric used for
strings and the like; as, curtains tied with tape.
2. A tapeline; also, a metallic ribbon so marked as to serve as a
tapeline; as, a steel tape.
Red tape. See under Red. — Tape grass (Bot.), a plant (Vallisneria
spiralis) with long ribbonlike leaves, growing in fresh or brackish
water; — called also fresh-water eelgrass, and, in Maryland, wild
celery. — Tape needle. See Bodkin, n., 4.
Tape"line` (?), n. A painted tape, marked with linear dimensions, as
inches, feet, etc., and often inclosed in a case, — used for measuring.
Ta"per (?), n. [AS. tapur, tapor, taper; cf. Ir. tapar, W. tampr.] 1. A
small wax candle; a small lighted wax candle; hence, a small light.
Get me a taper in my study, Lucius.
Shak.
2. A tapering form; gradual diminution of thickness in an elongated
object; as, the taper of a spire.
<! p. 1474 !>
Ta"per (?), a. [Supposed to be from taper, n., in allusion to its
form.] Regularly narrowed toward the point; becoming small toward one
end; conical; pyramidical; as, taper fingers.
Ta"per, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Tapered (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Tapering.] To
become gradually smaller toward one end; as, a sugar loaf tapers toward
one end.
Ta"per, v. t. To make or cause to taper.
Ta"pered (?), a. Lighted with a taper or tapers; as, a tapered choir.
[R.] T. Warton.
Ta"per*ing (?), a. Becoming gradually smaller toward one end. —
Ta"per*ing*ly, adv.
Ta"per*ness, n. The quality or state of being taper; tapering form;
taper. Shenstone.
Tap"es*try (?), n.; pl. Tapestries (#). [F. tapissere, fr. tapisser to
carpet, to hang, or cover with tapestry, fr. tapis a carpet, carpeting,
LL. tapecius, fr. L. tapete carpet, tapestry, Gr. &?;, &?;. Cf. Tapis,
Tippet.] A fabric, usually of worsted, worked upon a warp of linen or
other thread by hand, the designs being usually more or less pictorial
and the stuff employed for wall hangings and the like. The term is also
applied to different kinds of embroidery.
Tapestry carpet, a kind of carpet, somewhat resembling Brussels, in
which the warp is printed before weaving, so as to produce the figure
in the cloth. — Tapestry moth. (Zoöl.) Same as Carpet moth, under
Carpet.
Tap"es*try, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Tapestried (?); p. pr. & vb. n.
Tapestrying.] To adorn with tapestry, or as with tapestry.
The Trosachs wound, as now, between gigantic walls of rock tapestried
with broom and wild roses.
Macaulay.
Tap"et (?), n. [L. tapete. See Tapestry.] Worked or figured stuff;
tapestry. [R.] Spenser.
Tap"e*ti (?), n.; pl. Tapetis (#). [Braz.] (Zoöl.) A small South
American hare (Lepus Braziliensis).
||Ta*pe"tum (?), n. [NL., from L. tapete a carpet, a tapestry.] (Anat.)
||An area in the pigmented layer of the choroid coat of the eye in many
||animals, which has an iridescent or metallic luster and helps to make
||the eye visible in the dark. Sometimes applied to the whole layer of
||pigmented epithelium of the choroid.
||
Tape"worm` (?), n. (Zoöl.) Any one of numerous species of cestode worms
belonging to Tænia and many allied genera. The body is long, flat, and
composed of numerous segments or proglottids varying in shape, those
toward the end of the body being much larger and longer than the
anterior ones, and containing the fully developed sexual organs. The
head is small, destitute of a mouth, but furnished with two or more
suckers (which vary greatly in shape in different genera), and
sometimes, also, with hooks for adhesion to the walls of the intestines
of the animals in which they are parasitic. The larvæ (see Cysticercus)
live in the flesh of various creatures, and when swallowed by another
animal of the right species develop into the mature tapeworm in its
intestine. See Illustration in Appendix.
Three species are common parasites of man: the pork tapeworm (Tænia
solium), the larva of which is found in pork; the beef tapeworm (T.
mediocanellata), the larva of which lives in the flesh of young cattle;
and the broad tapeworm (Bothriocephalus latus) which is found chiefly
in the inhabitants of the mountainous regions of Europe and Asia. See
also Echinococcus, Cysticercus, Proglottis, and 2d Measles, 4.
Tap"house` (?), n. A house where liquors are retailed.
||Taph*ren"chy*ma (?), n. [Gr. &?; a trench + enchyma, as in
||parenchyma.] (Bot.) Same as Bothrenchyma.
||
Tap"i*nage (?), n. [See Tapish.] A lurking or skulking. [Obs.] Gower.
Tap`i*o"ca (?), n. [Braz. tapioka: cf. Pg., Sp. & F. tapioca.] A
coarsely granular substance obtained by heating, and thus partly
changing, the moistened starch obtained from the roots of the cassava.
It is much used in puddings and as a thickening for soups. See Cassava.
Ta"pir (?), n. [Braz. tapy'ra: cf. F. tapir.] (Zoöl.) Any one of
several species of large odd-toed ungulates belonging to Tapirus,
Elasmognathus, and allied genera. They have a long prehensile upper
lip, short ears, short and stout legs, a short, thick tail, and short,
close hair. They have three toes on the hind feet, and four toes on the
fore feet, but the outermost toe is of little use.
The best-known species are the Indian tapir (Tapirus Indicus), native
of the East Indies and Malacca, which is black with a broad band of
white around the middle, and the common American tapir (T. Americanus),
which, when adult, is dull brown. Several others species inhabit the
Andes and Central America.
Tapir tiger (Zoöl.), the wallah.
Ta"pir*oid (?), a. [Tapir + - oid.] (Zoöl.) Allied to the tapir, or the
Tapir family.
Ta"pis (?), n. [F. See Tapestry.] Tapestry; formerly, the cover of a
council table.
On, or Upon, the tapis, on the table, or under consideration; as, to
lay a motion in Parliament on the tapis.
Tap"is (?), v. t. To cover or work with figures like tapestry. [R.]
Holland.
Tap"is*er (?), n. [F. tapissier.] A maker of tapestry; an upholsterer.
[R.] Chaucer.
Tap"ish (?), v. i. [F. se tapir to squat.] To lie close to the ground,
so as to be concealed; to squat; to crouch; hence, to hide one's self.
[Written also tappis, tappish, tappice.] [Obs. or Prov. Eng.]
As a hound that, having roused a hart, Although he tappish ne'er so
soft.
Chapman.
Tap"lash` (?), n. Bad small beer; also, the refuse or dregs of liquor.
[Obs. or Prov. Eng.]
The taplash of strong ale and wine.
Taylor (1630).
Tap"lings (?), n. pl. The strong double leathers by which the two parts
of a flail are united. Halliwell.
||Ta*po"a ta"fa (?). (Zoöl.) A small carnivorous marsupial (Phascogale
||penicillata) having long, soft fur, and a very long tail with a tuft
||of long hairs at the end; — called also brush-tailed phascogale.
||
Tap"pen (?), n. An obstruction, or indigestible mass, found in the
intestine of bears and other animals during hibernation.
Tap"per (?), n. (Zoöl.) The lesser spotted woodpecker (Dendrocopus
minor); — called also tapperer, tabberer, little wood pie, barred
woodpecker, wood tapper, hickwall, and pump borer. [Prov. Eng.]
Tap"pes*ter (?), n. [See Tapster.] A female tapster. [Obs.] Chaucer.
Tap"pet (?), n. (Mach.) A lever or projection moved by some other
piece, as a cam, or intended to tap or touch something else, with a
view to produce change or regulate motion. G. Francis.
Tappet motion, a valve motion worked by tappets from a reciprocating
part, without an eccentric or cam, — used in steam pumps, etc.
{ Tap"pice (?), Tap"pis (?) }, v. i. See Tapish.
Tap"pit hen` (?). 1. A hen having a tuft of feathers on her head.
[Scot.] Jamieson.
2. A measuring pot holding one quart (according to some, three quarts);
— so called from a knob on the lid, thought to resemble a crested hen.
[Scot.] Jamieson.
Tap"room` (?), n. A room where liquors are kept on tap; a barroom.
The ambassador was put one night into a miserable taproom, full of
soldiers smoking.
Macaulay.
Tap"root` (?), n. (Bot.) The root of a plant which penetrates the earth
directly downward to a considerable depth without dividing.
Tap"ster (?), n. [AS. tæppestre a female tapster. See Tap a plug, pipe,
and -ster.] One whose business is to tap or draw ale or other liquor.
Ta"qua-nut` (?), n. (Bot.) A Central American name for the ivory nut.
Tar (?), n. [Abbrev. from tarpaulin.] A sailor; a seaman. [Colloq.]
Swift.
Tar, n. [OE. terre, tarre, AS. teru, teoru; akin to D. teer, G. teer,
theer, Icel. tjara, Sw. tjära, Dan. tiære, and to E. tree. √63. See
Tree.] A thick, black, viscous liquid obtained by the distillation of
wood, coal, etc., and having a varied composition according to the
temperature and material employed in obtaining it.
Coal tar. See in the Vocabulary. — Mineral tar (Min.), a kind of soft
native bitumen. — Tar board, a strong quality of millboard made from
junk and old tarred rope. Knight. — Tar water. (a) A cold infusion of
tar in water, used as a medicine. (b) The ammoniacal water of gas
works. — Wood tar, tar obtained from wood. It is usually obtained by
the distillation of the wood of the pine, spruce, or fir, and is used
in varnishes, cements, and to render ropes, oakum, etc., impervious to
water.
Tar, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Tarred (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Tarring.] To smear
with tar, or as with tar; as, to tar ropes; to tar cloth.
To tar and feather a person. See under Feather, v. t.
Tar"a*nis (?), n. [L. taranis, from the Celtic; cf. W. & Corn. taran
thunder.] (Myth.) A Celtic divinity, regarded as the evil principle,
but confounded by the Romans with Jupiter.
Tar`an*tass" (?), n. [Russ. tarantas'.] A low four-wheeled carriage
used in Russia. The carriage box rests on two long, springy poles which
run from the fore to the hind axletree. When snow falls, the wheels are
taken off, and the body is mounted on a sledge.
Tar`an*tel"la (?), n. [It.] (Mus.) (a) A rapid and delirious sort of
Neapolitan dance in 6-8 time, which moves in whirling triplets; — so
called from a popular notion of its being a remedy against the
poisonous bite of the tarantula. Some derive its name from Taranto in
Apulia. (b) Music suited to such a dance.
Tar"ant*ism (?), n. [It. tarantismo: cf. F. tarentisme. See Tarantula.]
(Med.) A nervous affection producing melancholy, stupor, and an
uncontrollable desire to dance. It was supposed to be produced by the
bite of the tarantula, and considered to be incapable of cure except by
protracted dancing to appropriate music. [Written also tarentism.]
Ta*ran"tu*la (?), n.; pl. E. Tarantulas (#), L. Tarantulæ (#). [NL.,
fr. It. tarantola, fr. L. Tarentum, now Taranto, in the south of
Italy.] (Zoöl.) Any one of several species of large spiders, popularly
supposed to be very venomous, especially the European species
(Tarantula apuliæ). The tarantulas of Texas and adjacent countries are
large species of Mygale. [Written also tarentula.]
Tarantula killer, a very large wasp (Pompilus formosus), which captures
the Texan tarantula (Mygale Hentzii) and places it in its nest as food
for its young, after paralyzing it by a sting.
Ta*ran"tu*la`ted (?), a. Bitten by a tarantula; affected with
tarantism.
Tar*bog"an (?), n. & v. See Toboggan.
Tar*boosh" (?), n. [Ar. tarb&?;sh; perhaps from Per. sar-posh
headdress: cf. F. tarbouch.] A red cap worn by Turks and other Eastern
nations, sometimes alone and sometimes swathed with linen or other
stuff to make a turban. See Fez.
Tar*da"tion (?), n. [L. tardatio, fr. tardare, tardatum, to retard,
delay, fr. tardus slow.] The act of retarding, or delaying;
retardation. [Obs.]
||Tar`di*gra"da (?), n. pl. [NL. See Tardigrade, a.] 1. (Zoöl.) A tribe
||of edentates comprising the sloths. They are noted for the slowness
||of their movements when on the ground. See Sloth, 3.
||
2. (Zoöl.) An order of minute aquatic arachnids; — called also bear
animalcules, sloth animalcules, and water bears.
Tar"di*grade (?), a. [L. tardigradus; tardus slow + gradi to step: cf.
F. tardigrade.] 1. Moving or stepping slowly; slow-paced. [R.] G.
Eliot.