tape

A2 Topic:Materials & Substances

US /ˈteɪp/ UK /teɪ̯p/ See IPA manual

Freq #1457

Meanings

1

noun
A thin strip of material with a sticky surface, used for fixing or sticking things together.

Hand me some tape so I can fix this torn page.
2

noun
A long thin band on which sound or pictures can be recorded.

He still has old tapes of his favourite songs.
3

noun
A long thin strip of cloth or metal marked with measurements, used to measure length.

The carpenter used a tape to measure the width of the door.
4

verb
To fix or attach something using tape.

She taped the address label to the box before posting it.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

2 noun · a long thin band on which... tape recordingtaping

3 noun · a long thin strip of cloth... tape measuretapeline

Word family

Forms tapedtapestaping

Derived forms audiotapebraintapenametapesellotapesticky-tapetape-recordtape-recordedtape-wormtapewormtime-tapevideotape

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

friction tape
a tough adhesive insulating tape traditionally used around electrical connections

Noun + noun

Idioms (2)

See all

Etymology

From Middle English tape, tappe, from Old English tæppa, tæppe (“ribbon, tape”); further origin unclear. Probably akin to Old Frisian tapia (“to pull, rip, tear”), Middle Low German tappen, tāpen (“to grab, pull, rip, tear, snatch”), Middle High German zāfen, zāven (“to pull, tear”).

tape Middle English tæppa Old English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Materials & Substances

External links

# tape

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A2
**Part of speech:** noun, verb
**IPA (US):** /ˈteɪp/
**IPA (UK):** /teɪ̯p/
**Frequency rank:** 1457

## Meanings
1. A thin strip of material with a sticky surface, used for fixing or sticking things together.
2. A long thin band on which sound or pictures can be recorded.
3. A long thin strip of cloth or metal marked with measurements, used to measure length.
4. To fix or attach something using tape.

## Examples
- Hand me some tape so I can fix this torn page.
- He still has old tapes of his favourite songs.
- The carpenter used a tape to measure the width of the door.
- She taped the address label to the box before posting it.

## Derived Forms
- audiotape
- braintape
- nametape
- sellotape
- sticky-tape
- tape-record
- tape-recorded
- tape-worm
- tapeworm
- time-tape
- videotape

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: tape
- Root: tæppa

## Etymology
From Middle English tape, tappe, from Old English tæppa, tæppe (“ribbon, tape”); further origin unclear. Probably akin to Old Frisian tapia (“to pull, rip, tear”), Middle Low German tappen, tāpen (“to grab, pull, rip, tear, snatch”), Middle High German zāfen, zāven (“to pull, tear”).

## AI Etymology
Tape is from Middle English tape, tappe, from Old English tæppa, tæppe (“ribbon, tape”); further origin unclear. Probably akin to Old Frisian tapia (“to pull, rip, tear”), Middle Low German tappen, tāpen (“to grab, pull, rip, tear, snatch”), Middle High German zāfen, zāven (“to pull, tear”). In present-day use, it can mean a thin strip of material with a sticky surface, used for fixing or sticking things together, or a long thin band on which sound or pictures can be recorded.

## Topics
- Materials & Substances

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