tape

See also: tapé, tapè, and tápe

Contents

English

Etymology

From Middle English tape, tappe, from Old English tæppa, tæppe (“band, strip, ribbon, fillet, tape”). 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”).

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /teɪ̯p/, [tʰeɪ̯p]

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪp

Noun

tape (countable and uncountable, plural tapes)

A videotape

1. Flexible material in a roll with a sticky surface on one or both sides; adhesive tape.

   Hand me some tape. I need to fix a tear in this paper.

2. Thin and flat paper, plastic or similar flexible material, usually produced in the form of a roll.

   After the party there was tape all over the place.

3. Finishing tape, stretched across a track to mark the end of a race.

   Jones broke the tape in 47.77 seconds, a new world record.

4. Magnetic or optical recording media in a roll; videotape or audio tape.

   Did you get that on tape?

5. (informal, by extension) Any video or audio recording, regardless of the method used to produce it.
   • 2018, Susan Edelman, New York Post, 18 Aug 2018

     “It was one of the most severe beatings they’ve seen on tape,” an FDNY insider said, recalling the reaction by brass who viewed video of the bloody fisticuffs.

6. (informal) An unthinking, patterned response triggered by a particular stimulus.

   Old couples will sometimes play tapes at each other during a fight.

7. (trading, from ticker tape) The series of prices at which a financial instrument trades.

   Don’t fight the tape.

8. (ice hockey) The wrapping of the primary puck-handling surface of a hockey stick

   His pass was right on the tape.

Derived terms

Derived terms

• adhesive tape
• audiotape, audio tape
• cassette tape
• cut red tape
• double-sided tape
• duck tape
• duct tape
• gaffer tape
• gray tape
• magnetic tape
• masking tape
• on tape

• police tape
• red tape
• Scotch tape
• sellotape, Sellotape
• sex tape
• sticky tape
• tale of the tape
• tape measure
• tape recorder
• tapeworm
• ticker tape
• videotape

Translations

adhesive tape — see adhesive tape

video or audiocassette tape

• Arabic: شَرِيط‎ m (šarīṭ)
• Basque: zinta, kasete (eu)
• Belarusian: сту́жка f (stúžka)
• Bulgarian: ле́нта (bg) f (lénta)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 錄音帶 (zh), 录音带 (zh) (lùyīndài)

• Czech: páska (cs) f
• Danish: bånd (da) n
• Dutch: band (nl) m, n
• Finnish: nauha (fi), teippi (fi)
• French: bande (fr) f
• German: Band (de) n
• Greenlandic: båndi
• Hindi: टेप (hi) (ṭep)
• Hungarian: szalag (hu)
• Italian: nastro (it) m, audiocassetta f, videocassetta (it) f
• Japanese: テープ (ja) (tēpu)

• Korean: 테이프 (ko) (teipeu)
• Luxembourgish: Band n
• Macedonian: касета f (kaseta)
• Persian: نوار‎ (fa) (navvâr)
• Polish: taśma (pl) f
• Portuguese: fita (pt) f
• Romanian: bandă (ro) f
• Russian: ле́нта (ru) f (lénta), кассе́та (ru) f (kasséta)
• Spanish: cinta (es) f
• Swedish: band (sv) n, tape (sv) c
• Thai: เทป (téep)
• Turkmen: skoç, kaseta
• Ukrainian: стрічка f (stríčka)
• Urdu: ٹیپ‎ (ṭep)
• Vietnamese: băng (vi) (繃), băng từ (繃磁)
• Welsh: tâp m

Descendants

• Hindi: टेप (ṭep)
• Japanese: テープ
• Korean: 테이프 (teipeu)
• Swedish: tape
• Thai: เทป (téep)
• Tibetan: ཊེབ (ṭeb)
• Welsh: tâp

Verb

tape (third-person singular simple present tapes, present participle taping, simple past and past participle taped)

1. To bind with adhesive tape.

   Be sure to tape your parcel securely before posting it.

2. To record, particularly onto magnetic tape.

   You shouldn’t have said that. The microphone was on and we were taping.

3. (informal, passive) To understand, figure out.

   I've finally got this thing taped.

Related terms

• roll tape
• tape off

Translations

to bind with adhesive tape

• Finnish: teipata (fi)
• Spanish: atar (es)
• Swedish: tejpa

• Vietnamese: dán (vi), dính (vi)
• Welsh: tapio (cy)

to record, particularly onto magnetic tape

• Finnish: nauhoittaa (fi)
• Spanish: grabar (es)

• Vietnamese: ghi (vi), thu (vi)
• Welsh: tapio (cy)

Anagrams

• PETA, Paet, Pate, Peat, Peta, epta-, pate, peat, peta-, pâté, tepa

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Danish

Etymology 1

From English tape (“adhesive tape”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tɛjp/, [tˢɛjb̥]

Noun

tape c (singular definite tapen, not used in plural form)

1. Scotch tape, adhesive tape

Usage notes

Rarely used in the sense video or audiocassette tape as a synonym to bånd. In this case it is neuter gender, singular definite tapet, plural indefinite tapes or tape, plural definite tapene.

Synonyms

• klisterbånd
• klæbestrimmel

Further reading

• tape on the Danish Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^da

Etymology 2

From English tape (“to bind with adhesive tape”).

Pronunciation

• infinitive IPA^(key): /tɛjpə/, [ˈtˢɛjb̥ə]
• imperative IPA^(key): /tɛjp/, [tˢɛjb̥ˀ]

Verb

tape (imperative tape, infinitive at tape, present tense taper, past tense tapede, perfect tense er/har tapet)

1. tape (to bind with adhesive tape) [from 1965]

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Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from English tape.

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

tape m (plural tapes, diminutive tapeje n)

1. tape

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French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tap/

Noun

tape f (plural tapes)

1. a gentle touch
2. a pat

Verb

tape

1. first-person singular present indicative of taper
2. third-person singular present indicative of taper
3. second-person singular imperative of taper

Further reading

• “tape” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Anagrams

• pâte, pâté
• péta

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Guaraní

Noun

tape

1. path
2. way
3. street

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Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology 1

Borrowed from English tape.

Noun

tape m (definite singular tapen, indefinite plural taper, definite plural tapene)

1. alternative form of teip

Verb

tape (present tense taper, past tense tapa or tapet, past participle tapa or tapet)

1. alternative form of teipe

Etymology 2

From Old Norse tapa. Cognate with Danish tabe, Swedish tappa and Faroese tapa.

Verb

tape (present tense taper, past tense tapte, past participle tapt)

1. to lose

Related terms

• tap

References

• “tape” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

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Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology 1

Borrowed from English tape.

Noun

tape m (definite singular tapen, indefinite plural tapar, definite plural tapane)

1. alternative form of teip

Verb

tape (present tense tapar, past tense tapa, past participle tapa, passive infinitive tapast, present participle tapande, imperative tap/tape)

1. alternative form of teipa

Etymology 2

Verb

tape (present tense tapar/taper, past tense tapa/tapte, past participle tapa/tapt, passive infinitive tapast, present participle tapande, imperative tape/tap)

1. alternative form of tapa

References

• “tape” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

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Portuguese

Verb

tape

1. first-person singular (eu) present subjunctive of tapar
2. third-person singular (ele and ela, also used with você and others) present subjunctive of tapar
3. third-person singular (você) affirmative imperative of tapar
4. third-person singular (você) negative imperative of tapar

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Spanish

Verb

tape

1. Formal second-person singular (usted) imperative form of tapar.
2. First-person singular (yo) present subjunctive form of tapar.
3. Formal second-person singular (usted) present subjunctive form of tapar.
4. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted^?) present subjunctive form of tapar.

Noun

tape m (plural tapes)

1. (Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Panama, Puerto Rico) Scotch tape, tape