as in drummed
to strike or cause to strike lightly and usually rhythmically
tapped her foot in time to the music kept tapping the desk with his pencil
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
as in drained
to remove (liquid) gradually or completely
the oil company tapped that first well completely dry
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of tapped
Julia Manchester, The Hill, 28 Sep. 2025
Both were from similar actions, where Paintsil tapped in a cut-back pass that nobody on Sporting’s back line anticipated.
—Daniel Sperry, Kansas City Star, 28 Sep. 2025
Rosé was also tapped to perform earlier this week.
—Althea Legaspi, Rolling Stone, 28 Sep. 2025
To reward the doors that have been helping Asics snatch away market share from its competitors, the Japanese company tapped Concepts, Extra Butter, Feature, Lapstone & Hammer, Sneaker Politics, Somewhere and The Whitaker Group.
—Riley Jones, Footwear News, 27 Sep. 2025
Whatley leaned heavily on faith and his close ties to Trump, who tapped him in January to oversee the region’s recovery.
—Nora O'Neill, Charlotte Observer, 27 Sep. 2025
He's been tapped to play in the orchestra for the scores of movies including Star Wars and Scream.
—Stephanie Sengwe, PEOPLE, 27 Sep. 2025
According to OpenAI, Chinese hackers also tapped ChatGPT to build password brute-forcing scripts and to dig up sensitive information on US defense networks, satellite systems and ID verification systems.
—Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 27 Sep. 2025
In assigning him that seemingly perverse task, Scorsese tapped into the vague air of vacuity at the center of a star who’s always seemed present and absent all at once.
—David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 26 Sep. 2025
Verb
The then-Republican gubernatorial nominee tapped into parents’ newfound concerns about what their children were being taught in the classroom after being exposed to their children’s school curricula during the pandemic lockdowns.
—Julia Manchester, The Hill, 28 Sep. 2025
Both were from similar actions, where Paintsil tapped in a cut-back pass that nobody on Sporting’s back line anticipated.
—Daniel Sperry, Kansas City Star, 28 Sep. 2025
Rosé was also tapped to perform earlier this week.
—Althea Legaspi, Rolling Stone, 28 Sep. 2025
To reward the doors that have been helping Asics snatch away market share from its competitors, the Japanese company tapped Concepts, Extra Butter, Feature, Lapstone & Hammer, Sneaker Politics, Somewhere and The Whitaker Group.
—Riley Jones, Footwear News, 27 Sep. 2025
Whatley leaned heavily on faith and his close ties to Trump, who tapped him in January to oversee the region’s recovery.
—Nora O'Neill, Charlotte Observer, 27 Sep. 2025
He's been tapped to play in the orchestra for the scores of movies including Star Wars and Scream.
—Stephanie Sengwe, PEOPLE, 27 Sep. 2025
According to OpenAI, Chinese hackers also tapped ChatGPT to build password brute-forcing scripts and to dig up sensitive information on US defense networks, satellite systems and ID verification systems.
—Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 27 Sep. 2025
In assigning him that seemingly perverse task, Scorsese tapped into the vague air of vacuity at the center of a star who’s always seemed present and absent all at once.
—David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 26 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Tapped.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tapped. Accessed 29 Sep. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share