Tantivy Tan·tiv"y intransitive verb To go away in haste. [ Colloq.]

Tantra Tan"tra (tăn"trȧ; tŭn"-) noun [ Sanskrit ] (Hinduism) A ceremonial treatise related to Puranic and magic literature; esp., one of the sacred works of the worshipers of Sakti. -- Tan"tric (- trĭk) adjective

Tantrism Tan"trism noun The system of doctrines and rites taught in the tantras. -- Tan"trist noun

Tantrum Tan"trum noun A whim, or burst of ill-humor; an affected air. [ Colloq.] Thackeray.

Tanyard Tan"yard` noun An inclosure where the tanning of leather is carried on; a tannery.

Tanystomata Tan`y·stom"a·ta noun plural [ New Latin , from Greek ... to stretch + ..., ..., mouth.] (Zoology) A division of dipterous insects in which the proboscis is large and contains lancelike mandibles and maxillæ. The horseflies and robber flies are examples.

Taoism Ta"o·ism noun One of the popular religions of China, sanctioned by the state. -- Ta"o*ist , adjective & noun

Taotai Tao`tai" noun [ Chin. tao circuit + t'ai , a title of respect.] In China, an official at the head of the civil and military affairs of a circuit, which consists of two or more fu , or territorial departments; -- called also, by foreigners, intendant of circuit . Foreign consuls and commissioners associated with taotais as superintendants of trade at the treaty ports are ranked with the taotai.

Tap Tap transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Tapped ; present participle & verbal noun Tapping .] [ French taper to strike; of Teutonic origin; confer dial. German tapp , tapps , a blow, tappe a paw, fist, German tappen to grope.] 1. To strike with a slight or gentle blow; to touch gently; to rap lightly; to pat; as, to tap one with the hand or a cane. 2. To put a new sole or heel on; as, to tap shoes.

Tap Tap noun [ Confer French tape . See Tap to strike.] 1. A gentle or slight blow; a light rap; a pat. Addison. 2. A piece of leather fastened upon the bottom of a boot or shoe in repairing or renewing the sole or heel. 3. plural (Mil.) A signal, by drum or trumpet, for extinguishing all lights in soldiers' quarters and retiring to bed, -- usually given about a quarter of an hour after tattoo. Wilhelm.

Tap Tap intransitive verb To strike a gentle blow.

Tap Tap noun [ Anglo-Saxon tæppa , akin to Dutch tap , German zapfen , Old High German zapfo , Danish tap , Swedish tapp , Icelandic tappi . Confer Tampion , Tip .] 1. A hole or pipe through which liquor is drawn. 2. A plug or spile for stopping a hole pierced in a cask, or the like; a faucet. 3. Liquor drawn through a tap; hence, a certain kind or quality of liquor; as, a liquor of the same tap . [ Colloq.] 4. A place where liquor is drawn for drinking; a taproom; a bar. [ Colloq.] 5. (Mech.) A tool for forming an internal screw, as in a nut, consisting of a hardened steel male screw grooved longitudinally so as to have cutting edges. On tap . (a) Ready to be drawn; as, ale on tap . (b) Broached, or furnished with a tap; as, a barrel on tap . -- Plug tap (Mech.) , a screw-cutting tap with a slightly tapering end. -- Tap bolt , a bolt with a head on one end and a thread on the other end, to be screwed into some fixed part, instead of passing through the part and receiving a nut. See Illust. under Bolt . -- Tap cinder (Metal.) , the slag of a puddling furnace.

Tap Tap transitive verb 1. To pierce so as to let out, or draw off, a fluid; as, to tap a cask, a tree, a tumor, etc. 2. Hence, to draw from (anything) in any analogous way; as, to tap telegraph wires for the purpose of intercepting information; to tap the treasury. 3. To draw, or cause to flow, by piercing. Shak.

He has been tapping his liquors.

Addison. 4. (Mech.) To form an internal screw in (anything) by means of a tool called a tap ; as, to tap a nut.

Tapa Ta"pa noun A kind of cloth prepared by the Polynesians from the inner bark of the paper mulberry; -- sometimes called also kapa .

Tapadera Tap`a·de"ra Tap`a*de"ro noun [ Also tapidero .] [ Spanish tapadera lid, cover.] One of the leather hoods which cover the stirrups of a Mexican saddle.

Tapayaxin Ta`pa·yax"in noun (Zoology) A Mexican spinous lizard ( Phrynosoma orbiculare ) having a head somewhat like that of a toad; -- called also horned toad .

Tape Tape noun [ Anglo-Saxon tæppe a fillet. Confer Tapestry , Tippet .] 1. A narrow fillet or band of cotton or linen; a narrow woven fabric used for strings and the like; as, curtains tied with tape . 2. A tapeline; also, a metallic ribbon so marked as to serve as a tapeline; as, a steel tape . Red tape . See under Red . -- Tape grass (Botany) , a plant ( Vallisneria spiralis ) with long ribbonlike leaves, growing in fresh or brackish water; -- called also fresh-water eelgrass , and, in Maryland, wild celery . -- Tape needle . See Bodkin , noun , 4.

Tape Tape transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Taped ; present participle & verbal noun Taping .] To furnish with tape; to fasten, tie, bind, or the like, with tape; specif. (Electricity) , to cover (a wire) with insulating tape.

Tapeline Tape"line` noun A painted tape, marked with linear dimensions, as inches, feet, etc., and often inclosed in a case, -- used for measuring.

Taper Ta"per noun [ Anglo-Saxon tapur , tapor , taper ; confer Ir. tapar , W. tampr .] 1. A small wax candle; a small lighted wax candle; hence, a small light.

Get me a taper in my study, Lucius.

Shak. 2. A tapering form; gradual diminution of thickness in an elongated object; as, the taper of a spire.

Taper Ta"per adjective [ Supposed to be from taper , noun , in allusion to its form.] Regularly narrowed toward the point; becoming small toward one end; conical; pyramidical; as, taper fingers.

Taper Ta"per intransitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Tapered ; present participle & verbal noun Tapering .] To become gradually smaller toward one end; as, a sugar loaf tapers toward one end.

Taper Ta"per transitive verb To make or cause to taper.

Tapered Ta"pered adjective Lighted with a taper or tapers; as, a tapered choir. [ R.] T. Warton.

Tapering Ta"per·ing adjective Becoming gradually smaller toward one end. -- Ta"per*ing*ly , adverb

Taperness Ta"per·ness noun The quality or state of being taper; tapering form; taper. Shenstone.

Tapestry Tap"es·try noun ; plural Tapestries . [ French tapissere , from tapisser to carpet, to hang, or cover with tapestry, from tapis a carpet, carpeting, Late Latin tapecius , from Latin tapete carpet, tapestry, Greek ..., .... Confer Tapis , Tippet .] A fabric, usually of worsted, worked upon a warp of linen or other thread by hand, the designs being usually more or less pictorial and the stuff employed for wall hangings and the like. The term is also applied to different kinds of embroidery. Tapestry carpet , a kind of carpet, somewhat resembling Brussels, in which the warp is printed before weaving, so as to produce the figure in the cloth. -- Tapestry moth . (Zoology) Same as Carpet moth , under Carpet .

Tapestry Tap"es·try transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Tapestried ; present participle & verbal noun Tapestrying .] To adorn with tapestry, or as with tapestry.

The Trosachs wound, as now, between gigantic walls of rock tapestried with broom and wild roses.

Macaulay.

Tapestry beetle Tap"es·try bee"tle A small black dermestoid beetle ( Attagenus piceus ) whose larva feeds on tapestry, carpets, silk, fur, flour, and various other goods.

Tapet Tap"et noun [ Latin tapete . See Tapestry .] Worked or figured stuff; tapestry. [ R.] Spenser.

Tapeti Tap"e·ti noun ; plural Tapetis . [ Braz.] (Zoology) A small South American hare ( Lepus Braziliensis ).

Tapetum Ta·pe"tum noun [ New Latin , from Latin tapete a carpet, a tapestry.] (Anat.) An area in the pigmented layer of the choroid coat of the eye in many animals, which has an iridescent or metallic luster and helps to make the eye visible in the dark. Sometimes applied to the whole layer of pigmented epithelium of the choroid.

Tapeworm Tape"worm` noun (Zoology) Any one of numerous species of cestode worms belonging to Tænia and many allied genera. The body is long, flat, and composed of numerous segments or proglottids varying in shape, those toward the end of the body being much larger and longer than the anterior ones, and containing the fully developed sexual organs. The head is small, destitute of a mouth, but furnished with two or more suckers (which vary greatly in shape in different genera), and sometimes, also, with hooks for adhesion to the walls of the intestines of the animals in which they are parasitic. The larvæ (see Cysticercus ) live in the flesh of various creatures, and when swallowed by another animal of the right species develop into the mature tapeworm in its intestine. See Illustration in Appendix. » Three species are common parasites of man: the pork tapeworm ( Tænia solium ), the larva of which is found in pork; the beef tapeworm ( T. mediocanellata ), the larva of which lives in the flesh of young cattle; and the broad tapeworm ( Bothriocephalus latus ) which is found chiefly in the inhabitants of the mountainous regions of Europe and Asia. See also Echinococcus , Cysticercus , Proglottis , and 2d Measles , 4.

Taphouse Tap"house` noun A house where liquors are retailed.

Taphrenchyma Taph·ren"chy·ma noun [ Greek ... a trench + enchyma , as in parenchyma .] (Botany) Same as Bothrenchyma .

Tapinage Tap"i·nage noun [ See Tapish .] A lurking or skulking. [ Obsolete] Gower.

Tapioca Tap`i·o"ca noun [ Braz. tapioka : confer Portuguese , Spanish & French tapioca .] A coarsely granular substance obtained by heating, and thus partly changing, the moistened starch obtained from the roots of the cassava. It is much used in puddings and as a thickening for soups. See Cassava .

Tapir Ta"pir noun [ Braz. tapy'ra : confer French tapir .] (Zoology) Any one of several species of large odd-toed ungulates belonging to Tapirus , Elasmognathus , and allied genera. They have a long prehensile upper lip, short ears, short and stout legs, a short, thick tail, and short, close hair. They have three toes on the hind feet, and four toes on the fore feet, but the outermost toe is of little use. » The best-known species are the Indian tapir ( Tapirus Indicus ), native of the East Indies and Malacca, which is black with a broad band of white around the middle, and the common American tapir ( T. Americanus ), which, when adult, is dull brown. Several others species inhabit the Andes and Central America. Tapir tiger (Zoology) , the wallah.

Tapiroid Ta"pir·oid adjective [ Tapir + - oid .] (Zoology) Allied to the tapir, or the Tapir family.

Tapis Ta"pis noun [ French See Tapestry .] Tapestry; formerly, the cover of a council table. On , or Upon , the tapis , on the table, or under consideration; as, to lay a motion in Parliament on the tapis .

Tapis Tap"is transitive verb To cover or work with figures like tapestry. [ R.] Holland.

Tapiser Tap"is·er noun [ French tapissier .] A maker of tapestry; an upholsterer. [ R.] Chaucer.

Tapish Tap"ish intransitive verb [ French se tapir to squat.] To lie close to the ground, so as to be concealed; to squat; to crouch; hence, to hide one's self. [ Written also tappis , tappish , tappice .] [ Obsolete or Prov. Eng.]

As a hound that, having roused a hart,
Although he tappish ne'er so soft.

Chapman.

Taplash Tap"lash` noun Bad small beer; also, the refuse or dregs of liquor. [ Obsolete or Prov. Eng.]

The taplash of strong ale and wine.

Taylor (1630).

Taplings Tap"lings noun plural The strong double leathers by which the two parts of a flail are united. Halliwell.

Tapoa tafa Ta·po"a ta"fa (Zoology) A small carnivorous marsupial ( Phascogale penicillata ) having long, soft fur, and a very long tail with a tuft of long hairs at the end; -- called also brush-tailed phascogale .

Tappen Tap"pen noun An obstruction, or indigestible mass, found in the intestine of bears and other animals during hibernation.

Tapper Tap"per noun (Zoology) The lesser spotted woodpecker ( Dendrocopus minor ); -- called also tapperer , tabberer , little wood pie , barred woodpecker , wood tapper , hickwall , and pump borer . [ Prov. Eng.]

Tappester Tap"pes·ter noun [ See Tapster .] A female tapster. [ Obsolete] Chaucer.

Tappet Tap"pet noun (Machinery) A lever or projection moved by some other piece, as a cam, or intended to tap or touch something else, with a view to produce change or regulate motion. G. Francis. Tappet motion , a valve motion worked by tappets from a reciprocating part, without an eccentric or cam, -- used in steam pumps, etc.