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
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as in drained
to remove (liquid) gradually or completely
the oil company tapped that first well completely dry
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Recent Examples of tapped
Bloomberg, Mercury News, 22 Jan. 2026
Bovino, the Border Patrol’s El Centro, California, regional leader was tapped last June to oversee a temporary surge of agents into Los Angeles.
—Anna Giaritelli, The Washington Examiner, 22 Jan. 2026
But Blaise Ingoglia became DOGE’s chief spokesperson after DeSantis tapped him as chief financial officer last summer.
—Lawrence Mower, Miami Herald, 21 Jan. 2026
As for the matter of her physical safety, Ens tapped a lesson from childhood.
—Zoey Lyttle, PEOPLE, 21 Jan. 2026
Trump tapped Halligan, a White House aide who had served as his personal lawyer but had no prior experience as a federal prosecutor, to lead one of the Justice Department’s most important and prestigious offices.
—Eric Tucker, Los Angeles Times, 21 Jan. 2026
Meanwhile, Paris tapped into her inner Disney princess wearing a millennial pink gown made of nothing but sheer chiffon, mesh, and rhinestones.
—Lara Walsh, InStyle, 21 Jan. 2026
Hammers tapped slackening fibers and instead of the pleasant overtones of a major scale, a nauseating cacophony swelled from the instrument’s wooden belly.
—Sasha Geffen, Pitchfork, 21 Jan. 2026
Earlier on Tuesday, the Recording Academy previously announced that Sabrina Carpenter has been tapped to perform at the 68th Annual Grammy Awards.
—Charisma Madarang, Rolling Stone, 21 Jan. 2026
Verb
Cook, who has led Apple since 2011 and turned 65 in November, quietly tapped Ternus to manage the company’s design teams at the end of last year, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
—Bloomberg, Mercury News, 22 Jan. 2026
Bovino, the Border Patrol’s El Centro, California, regional leader was tapped last June to oversee a temporary surge of agents into Los Angeles.
—Anna Giaritelli, The Washington Examiner, 22 Jan. 2026
But Blaise Ingoglia became DOGE’s chief spokesperson after DeSantis tapped him as chief financial officer last summer.
—Lawrence Mower, Miami Herald, 21 Jan. 2026
As for the matter of her physical safety, Ens tapped a lesson from childhood.
—Zoey Lyttle, PEOPLE, 21 Jan. 2026
Trump tapped Halligan, a White House aide who had served as his personal lawyer but had no prior experience as a federal prosecutor, to lead one of the Justice Department’s most important and prestigious offices.
—Eric Tucker, Los Angeles Times, 21 Jan. 2026
Meanwhile, Paris tapped into her inner Disney princess wearing a millennial pink gown made of nothing but sheer chiffon, mesh, and rhinestones.
—Lara Walsh, InStyle, 21 Jan. 2026
Hammers tapped slackening fibers and instead of the pleasant overtones of a major scale, a nauseating cacophony swelled from the instrument’s wooden belly.
—Sasha Geffen, Pitchfork, 21 Jan. 2026
Earlier on Tuesday, the Recording Academy previously announced that Sabrina Carpenter has been tapped to perform at the 68th Annual Grammy Awards.
—Charisma Madarang, Rolling Stone, 21 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Tapped.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tapped. Accessed 25 Jan. 2026.
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