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”).
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.
I sealed up the box with clear shipping tape.
2
Thin and flat paper, plastic or similar flexible material, usually produced in the form of a roll.
We made some decorative flowers out of the tape we bought.
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?
So we went around the corner, looked in the garbage, and, boom, there's about 16 of the tapes he didn't like!1993, Vibe, volume 1, number 2:
5
Broadly, Informal Any video or audio recording, regardless of the method used to produce it.
“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.2018 August 18, Susan Edelman, New York Post:
6
Informal An unthinking, patterned response triggered by a particular stimulus.
Old couples will sometimes play tapes at each other during a fight.
7
Business, Finance, TradingFrom ticker tape The series of prices at which a financial instrument trades.
Don’t fight the tape.
8
Hobbies, Ice hockey, Lifestyle, Skating, Sports The wrapping of the primary puck-handling surface of a hockey stick.
UK, Obsolete, Slang Liquor, alcoholic drink, especially gin or brandy. (Especially in prison slang or among domestic servants and women.)
white tape, Holland tape, blue tape (gin); red tape (brandy or wine)
Madam Gin has been christened by as many names as a German princess : every petty chandler's shop will sell you Sky-blue, and every night-cellar furnish you with Holland tape, three yards a penny. Nor can I see the difference […]1827 (originally 1755?), Connoisseur, page=223
2 more examples
[…] who is now puffing his pipe and sipping his grog, as unconcerned as a Dutch fiddler at a merry-making, has no business here selling his cheese and candles in the day-time, and his yards of tape in the evening: […] and now then for the tape-shop. […]1817, The White Dwarf: A London Weekly Publication, page 222:
A tumbler of blue ruin fill, fill for me! / Red tape those as likes it may drain, / But whatever the lush, it a bumper must be. / […] / Oh! those jovial days are ne'er forgot! But the tape lags—When I be's dead, you'll drink one put To poor old Bags!1830, [Edward Bulwer-Lytton], Paul Clifford. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC:
11
Abbreviation, Clipping Clipping of red tape (“time-consuming bureaucratic procedures”).
[When dealing with the] Federal Government, "red tape" is unavoidable. Perseverance, good humor and thoroughness will almost invariably cut through the "tape” or lead to the proper official where courteous and attentive treatment will be received.1923, Henry C. Clark, Departmental Practice, Admission of Attorneys, Etc, page 7:
He was going to cut through the tape and ship this Army stuff straight to France.1953, United States. Congress. House. Committee on the Judiciary, Hearings, page 53:
2 more examples
Mr. Cheney: […] to move in the direction of deciding that the only way to get anything done, to cut through the red tape, to be able to move aggressively, is to have it done, in effect, inside the boundary of the White House. […] Mr. North: […] there are certainly times when one has to cut through the tape.1988, United States Senate Select Committee on Secret Military Assistance to Iran and the Nicaraguan Opposition, Iran-Contra Investigation: … One Hundredth Congress, First Session, page 26:
As Treasurer and Governor of Texas, she had an ability to cut through the tape and conventions to get stuff done and make things better. She modernized systems, made government more transparent and accountable and[…]2011 March 1, Simon Maier, Jeremy Kourdi, The 100: Insights and lessons from 100 of the greatest speakers and speeches ever delivered, Marshall Cavendish International Asia Pte Ltd, →ISBN, page 295:
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”).
1
To bind with adhesive tape.
Be sure to tape your parcel securely before posting it.
The agent had to dead-drop the locker key to the PGU by some simple means, such as by taping it underneath a predesignated park bench, where it could be retrieved unobtrusively, usually by an officer under illegal cover.2007, Ion Mihai Pacepa, Programmed to Kill:
2
To record, originally onto magnetic tape.
You shouldn’t have said that. The microphone was on and we were taping.
The warmup guy — as I now know is common for live audiences in taped television performances — kept fluffing the crowd like they were preschoolers. “Now what are you going to do when we introduce the first comedian?” Wild cheers. “C'mon, that's not good enough! Let's try it again! What are you going to do???”2016, Doug Stanhope, Digging Up Mother: