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To strike with a slight or gentle blow; to touch gently; to rap lightly; to pat; as, to tap one with the hand or a cane.

A kind of cloth prepared by the Polynesians from the inner bark of the paper mulberry; -- sometimes called also kapa.

One of the leather hoods which cover the stirrups of a Mexican saddle.

A Mexican spinous lizard (Phrynosoma orbiculare) having a head somewhat like that of a toad; -- called also horned toad.

ton or linen; a narrow woven fabric used for strings and the like; as, curtains tied with tape.

A painted tape, marked with linear dimensions, as inches, feet, etc., and often inclosed in a case, -- used for measuring.

A small wax candle; a small lighted wax candle; hence, a small light. Get me a taper in my study, Lucius. Shak.

Lighted with a taper or tapers; as, a tapered choir. [R.] T. Warton.

Becoming gradually smaller toward one end. -- Ta"per*ing*ly, adv.

The quality or state of being taper; tapering form; taper. Shenstone.

or wall hangings and the like. The term is also applied to different kinds of embroidery. Tapestry carpet, a kind of carpet, somewhat resembling Brussels, in which the warp is printed before weaving, so as to produce the figure in the cloth. -- Tapestry moth. (Zoöl.) Same as Carpet moth, under Carpet.…

A small black dermestoid beetle (Attagenus piceus) whose larva feeds on tapestry, carpets, silk, fur, flour, and various other goods.

Worked or figured stuff; tapestry. [R.] Spenser.

A small South American hare (Lepus Braziliensis).

An area in the pigmented layer of the choroid coat of the eye in many animals, which has an iridescent or metallic luster and helps to make the eye visible in the dark. Sometimes applied to the whole layer of pigmented epithelium of the choroid.

atures, and when swallowed by another animal of the right species develop into the mature tapeworm in its intestine. See Illustration in Appendix.

A house where liquors are retailed.

Same as Bothrenchyma.

A lurking or skulking. [Obs.] Gower.

A coarsely granular substance obtained by heating, and thus partly changing, the moistened starch obtained from the roots of the cassava. It is much used in puddings and as a thickening for soups. See Cassava.