tape
a strip of cloth, paper, or plastic with an adhesive surface, used for sealing, binding, or attaching items together; adhesive tape or masking tape.
a long, narrow strip of fabric used for tying garments, binding seams or carpets, etc.
a long, narrow strip of paper, metal, etc.
a magnetic tape carrying recorded sound or images: I made a digital copy of that tape of Grandpa playing the violin.
a string stretched across the finishing line in a race and broken by the winning contestant on crossing the line.
to furnish with a tape or tapes.
to tie up, bind, or attach with tape.
to measure with or as if with a tape measure.
to record or prerecord on magnetic tape.
Origin of tape
1Other words from tape
- tapeless, adjective
- tapelike, adjective
- pre·tape, verb (used with object), pre·taped, pre·tap·ing.
- re·tape, verb (used with object), re·taped, re·tap·ing.
- un·taped, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use tape in a sentence
It helps jack up the level of suspense during pretaped events, the outcome of which most viewers learned hours earlier on Twitter.
British Dictionary definitions for tape
/ (teɪp) /
a long thin strip, made of cotton, linen, etc, used for binding, fastening, etc
any long narrow strip of cellulose, paper, metal, etc, having similar uses
a string stretched across the track at the end of a race course
military slang, mainly British another word for stripe 1 (def. 3)
Also: tape-record (also intr) to record (speech, music, etc)
to furnish with tapes
to bind, measure, secure, or wrap with tape
(usually passive) British informal to take stock of (a person or situation); sum up: he's got the job taped
Origin of tape
1Derived forms of tape
- tapelike, adjective
- taper, noun
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
Other Idioms and Phrases with tape
see red tape.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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