Library / English Dictionary

TAPE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Memory device consisting of a long thin plastic strip coated with iron oxide; used to record audio or video signals or to store computer information

Example:

he took along a dozen tapes to record the interview

Synonyms:

mag tape; magnetic tape; tape

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("tape" is a kind of...):

memory device; storage device (a device that preserves information for retrieval)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "tape"):

audiotape (magnetic tape for use in recording sound)

cassette tape (a cassette that contains magnetic tape)

magnetic stripe (a short strip of magnetic tape attached to a credit card or debit card; it contains data that will tell a reading device who you are and what your account number is, etc.)

videotape (a relatively wide magnetic tape for use in recording visual images and associated sound)

Derivation:

tape (register electronically)

tape (record on videotape)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A long thin piece of cloth or paper as used for binding or fastening

Example:

he wrapped a tape around the package

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("tape" is a kind of...):

slip; strip (artifact consisting of a narrow flat piece of material)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "tape"):

adhesive tape (tape coated with adhesive)

inkle (a linen tape used for trimming as a decoration)

webbing (a narrow closely woven tape; used in upholstery or for seat belts)

Derivation:

tape (fasten or attach with tape)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A recording made on magnetic tape

Example:

the several recordings were combined on a master tape

Synonyms:

tape; tape recording; taping

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("tape" is a kind of...):

recording (a storage device on which information (sounds or images) have been recorded)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "tape"):

audiotape (a tape recording of sound)

videotape (a video recording made on magnetic tape)

Derivation:

tape (register electronically)

tape (record on videotape)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Measuring instrument consisting of a narrow strip (cloth or metal) marked in inches or centimeters and used for measuring lengths

Example:

the carpenter should have used his tape measure

Synonyms:

tape; tape measure; tapeline

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("tape" is a kind of...):

measuring device; measuring instrument; measuring system (instrument that shows the extent or amount or quantity or degree of something)

Sense 5

Meaning:

The finishing line for a foot race

Example:

he broke the tape in record time

Classified under:

Nouns denoting spatial position

Hypernyms ("tape" is a kind of...):

finish line; finishing line (a line indicating the location of the finish of a race)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Register electronically

Example:

They recorded her singing

Synonyms:

record; tape

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "tape" is one way to...):

enter; put down; record (make a record of; set down in permanent form)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "tape"):

save; write (record data on a computer)

tape record (record with a tape recorder)

prerecord (record before presentation, as of a broadcast)

cut (record a performance on (a medium))

cut (make a recording of)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Sentence example:

They will tape the duet

Derivation:

tape (memory device consisting of a long thin plastic strip coated with iron oxide; used to record audio or video signals or to store computer information)

tape; taping (a recording made on magnetic tape)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Record on videotape

Synonyms:

tape; videotape

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "tape" is one way to...):

enter; put down; record (make a record of; set down in permanent form)

Domain category:

film; flick; motion-picture show; motion picture; movie; moving-picture show; moving picture; pic; picture; picture show (a form of entertainment that enacts a story by sound and a sequence of images giving the illusion of continuous movement)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Sentence example:

Sam and Sue tape the movie

Derivation:

tape (memory device consisting of a long thin plastic strip coated with iron oxide; used to record audio or video signals or to store computer information)

tape (a recording made on magnetic tape)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Fasten or attach with tape

Example:

tape the shipping label to the box

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "tape" is one way to...):

attach (cause to be attached)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "tape"):

scotch tape; sellotape (fasten or attach with sellotape)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s something PP

Derivation:

tape (a long thin piece of cloth or paper as used for binding or fastening)

Credits

 Context examples: 

I tape my business card to the bottom my computer and iPad, and even to the back of my iPhone.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

There is so much red tape in these matters.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Notably, mice that underwent tape stripping had more severe reactions to food allergen than mice that did not.

(Scratching the skin primes the gut for allergic reactions to food, mouse study suggests, National Institutes of Health)

He had picked from a drawer a little tarnished cylinder, and, undoing the tape, he handed me a short note scrawled upon a half-sheet of slate-grey paper.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Healthcare workers assess the severity of lymphedema by using a tape measure or by relying on water displacement by the affected limb.

(New portable device to gauge severity of elephantiasis, SciDev.Net)

Britannia, that unfortunate female, is always before me, like a trussed fowl: skewered through and through with office-pens, and bound hand and foot with red tape.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Examples include markers inserted in the prostate gland for visualization of the site affected by cancer, prior to radiation therapy; markers taped to the scalp prior to imaging in frameless stereotactic brain surgery; and femoral and tibial pins used for spatial orientation in total knee replacement.

(Fiducial marker, NCI Thesaurus)

The highest BPA content was detected in the three-way stopcock (over 7,000ng/g), followed by the patterned transparent film dressing (surgical tape), the gastro-duodenal feeding tube, sterile gloves for professional use, the umbilical catheter, and the intravenous infusion extension kit (with BPA concentrations ranging between 100 and 700ng/g).

(Babies in neonatal intensive care units are exposed to harmful chemical substances found in plastic, University of Granada)

"What put it into your head? Did anyone tell you about Beth's giving away her things?" asked Laurie soberly, as Amy laid a bit of red tape, with sealing wax, a taper, and a standish before him.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

I could see that it was already a third full of bundles of paper tied up with red tape into separate packages.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)