I. ta·per ˈtāpə(r) noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English taper, tapre, from Old English taper, tapor
1.
a. : a usually slender wax candle
b. : a long waxed wick used especially as a spill
c. : any feeble light or source of light
2.
a. : a tapering form or figure (as a spire)
b. : gradual diminution of thickness, diameter, or width in an elongated object often expressed in inches per foot, inches per inch, or by numbers
the taper of a tree trunk
glass tubing with extremely accurate bore or taper — C.J.Phillips
the taper of a file
c. : a gradual decrease
3. : a trowel used by molders in founding
4. : draft 17a,b
5. : a taper wire used especially to splice electric cables
II. taper adjective
Etymology: Middle English tapre, from taper, tapre, n.
1. : regularly narrowed toward a point : conical , pyramidal
taper fingers
— see leg illustration
2. : graduated , scaled
taper freight rates
III. taper verb
( tapered ; tapered ; tapering -p(ə)riŋ ; tapers )
Etymology: taper (I)
intransitive verb
1. : to become gradually smaller toward one end
a stick that tapers to a point
a wall tapering from a thickness of three feet at the bottom to two feet at the top
2. : to grow gradually less : diminish
as … defense demands tapered, prices started down — Time
sparse subarctic forest which tapers northward to the treeless tundra — Jim Wright
— often used with down
the way that a news story is written — beginning with the most important and tapering down to the least important — T.F.Barnhart
— see taper off
transitive verb
1. : to make or cause to taper
taper a stick to a point
2. : to cut and thin (the hair) so that the ends are invisibly blended
IV. tap·er ˈtāpə(r) noun
( -s )
Etymology: tape (I) + -er
1. : a worker who applies tape (as to seal, label, protect, decorate, or strengthen objects) by hand or by machine
2. : a device for dispensing or applying tape