n. & v.
n. 1 a narrow strip of woven material for tying up, fastening, etc. 2 a a strip of material stretched across the finishing line of a race. b a similar strip for marking off an area or forming a notional barrier. 3 (in full adhesive tape) a strip of opaque or transparent paper or plastic etc., esp. coated with adhesive for fastening, sticking, masking, insulating, etc. 4 a = magnetic tape. b a tape recording or tape cassette. 5 = tape-measure.
v.tr. 1 a tie up or join etc. with tape. b apply tape to. 2 (foll. by off) seal or mark off an area or thing with tape. 3 record on magnetic tape. 4 measure with tape. breast the tape win a race. have (or get) a person or thing taped Brit. colloq. understand a person or thing fully. on tape recorded on magnetic tape. tape deck a platform with capstans for using magnetic tape. tape machine a machine for receiving and recording telegraph messages. tape-measure a strip of tape or thin flexible metal marked for measuring lengths. tape-record record (sounds) on magnetic tape. tape recorder apparatus for recording sounds on magnetic tape and afterwards reproducing them. tape recording a recording on magnetic tape. tapeable adj. (esp. in sense 3 of v.). tapeless adj. tapelike adj.
[ OE tppa, tppe, of unkn. orig. ]