to press quickly on a smartphone or tablet screen with your finger to choose something
Just tap the icon to open the camera app.
I accidentally tapped the wrong button and closed the game.
✦ Technological extension of the basic verb sense, first recorded in the 1990s with touch-screen devices.
to touch or hit someone or something lightly, often with your fingers, to make a soft sound or to get attention
Julia tapped her friend on the shoulder to say hello.
Please don't tap the glass; it bothers the fish.
✦ Extension of the noun sense; recorded as a verb since the 14th century.
to make a small hole in a tree, barrel, or other container so that you can draw liquid such as sap or beer from it
Farmers tapped the maple trees to collect sap in early spring.
They tapped the keg and served fresh beer to the guests.
✦ From the noun sense ‘plug or spout for drawing liquid’; the verb meaning ‘draw liquid by a tap’ dates from the early 17th century.
