tap
/tæp/
"tap" is a 3-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“tap” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #4,496) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.
- #4,496
- frequency rank, English
- 3,151
- “T” headwords
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A conical peg or pin used to close and open the hole or vent in a container.
Corpus desk
Index EN-tap · tap · English
tap · rank #4,496 · 0 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-COMMON #4,496
- LEN-MID 3 letters
- VOW-1 1 vowel
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 3,151
- PHOTO-FINISH surprising
Nearest frequency peer: surprising (-1 rank slots)
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
Frequency neighbourhood for “tap”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- stranger
stranger
95,508 corpus weight
- submit
submit
95,507 corpus weight
- surprising
surprising
95,506 corpus weight
- tap
tap
95,505 corpus weight
- Thompson
Thompson
95,504 corpus weight
- threats
threats
95,503 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “tap” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | tap |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /tæp/ |
| Letters | 3 |
| Frequency rank | #4,496 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “tap” sits in English frequency
Easy to mix with look-alikes
The spelling risk for tap is neighbouring look-alikes ("to", "TV", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced /tæp/. Frequency #4,496 among 3,151 “T” headwords. 11 recorded senses keep meaning in play.
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for tap, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "to", "TV", "te", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: The noun is derived from Middle English tappe (“hollow device for controlling the flow of liquid from a hole, cock, faucet, spigot; hole through which the liquid flows; the liquid which thus flows”), from Old English tæppa, from Proto-West Germanic *tappō, … The correct English form is tap, spelled T-A-P.
Definition
- 1A conical peg or pin used to close and open the hole or vent in a container.
- 2An object with a tapering conical form like a tap (etymology 1 sense 1); specifically, ellipsis of taproot (“long, tapering root of a plant”).
- 3A hollow device used to control the flow of a fluid, such as an alcoholic beverage from a cask, or a gas or liquid in a pipe.
- 4A hollow device used to control the flow of a fluid, such as an alcoholic beverage from a cask, or a gas or liquid in a pipe.
- 5Liquor drawn through a tap (etymology 1 sense 2.2); hence, a certain kind or quality of liquor; also (figurative, informal), a certain kind or quality of any thing.
- 6A device used to listen in secretly on telephone calls or other communications.
- 7A secret interception of telephone calls or other communications using such a device; also, a recording of such a communication.
- 8A situation where a borrowing government authority issues bonds over a period of time, usually at a fixed price, with volumes sold on a particular day dependent on market conditions.
- 9A cylindrical tool used to cut an internal screw thread in a hole, with cutting edges around the lower end and an upper end to which a handle is fitted to turn the tool.
- 10Ellipsis of taphouse or taproom (“place where alcoholic beverages are served on tap”).
- 11A connection made to an electrical or fluid conductor without breaking it; a tapping.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how tap appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
We don’t have bottled water; you’ll have to get it from the tap.
Is the tap water here safe to drink?
Etymology
The noun is derived from Middle English tappe (“hollow device for controlling the flow of liquid from a hole, cock, faucet, spigot; hole through which the liquid flows; the liquid which thus flows”), from Old English tæppa, from Proto-West Germanic *tappō, from Proto-Germanic *tappô (“a plug, tap; peg; tapering stick”), from Proto-Indo-European *deh₂p- (“to lose; to sacrifice”). Doublet of tapa. The verb is derived from Middle English tappen (“to obtain (liquid, chiefly liquor) from a tap; to obtain and sell (liquor)”), from Old English tæppian (“to provide (a container) with a stopper; to obtain (liquid) from a tap”), and then either: * from Old English tæppa (see above) + -ian (suffix forming verbs); or * from Proto-Germanic *tappōną, from *tappô (noun) (see above). Verb etymology 1 sense 1.3.5 (“to turn over (a playing card or playing piece) to remind players that it has already been used in that round”) alludes to the abilities or resources of the card or piece having been drawn on to the point of temporary exhaustion: see verb etymology 1 sense 1.3.2.
Antonyms
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 3, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "tap", not the corpus desk frequency band.
What to do next
You've looked up "tap". Here's where to go from here.
- "tap" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "to". View pair
- Usage frequency rank #4,496 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
- Browse more English words in the "T" letter cohort. T–Z browse
- PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.