a narrow strip of sticky plastic or paper used to stick or join things together
She wrapped the birthday present and sealed the paper with tape.
Please use tape to hold the poster on the classroom wall.
✦ From Middle English, borrowed from Old English "tæppe" meaning a narrow strip of cloth; later extended to sticky and magnetic forms.
a long narrow strip coated with magnetic material used to record and store sound or video; also a recording kept on such a strip
My father still has the old jazz songs on tape.
We watched our childhood videos on a dusty VHS tape.
✦ Sense developed in the 1930s with the invention of magnetic recording technology, extending "tape" from cloth strip to magnetic strip.
a flexible strip marked with numbers that you pull out to measure length, usually called a tape measure
The tailor wrapped the measuring tape around my waist.
Use a tape to check if the bookshelf will fit in that corner.
✦ Measuring sense recorded from the 1860s, when marked cloth and steel tapes replaced rigid rules for longer measurements.
to fasten or cover something with tape
She taped the note to the refrigerator door.
The coach taped the player’s ankle before the match.
✦ Verb sense from the noun "tape" (sticky strip), first recorded in the early 20th century.
to record sound or video, especially using magnetic tape or similar equipment
The band taped their new album in just one week.
Can you tape tonight’s show for me?
✦ From the noun "tape" (magnetic strip); verb sense arose in the 1940s as recording equipment became common.
