Knock vs. Tap — What's the Difference?
Difference Between Knock and Tap
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Compare with Definitions
Knock
To strike with a hard blow
Knocked him on the head.
Tap
A device by which a flow of liquid or gas from a pipe or container can be controlled
She turned the cold tap on
The air-supply tap
Knock
To affect in a specified way by striking hard
Knocked the mugger senseless.
Tap
A device connected to a telephone for listening secretly to someone's conversations
Those taps produced hundreds of hours of recordings
Knock
To cause to be displaced or unengaged; force
A wind that knocked the tower over.
A blunder that knocked him out of the job.
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Tap
An instrument for cutting a threaded hole in a material.
Knock
To cause to collide
I knocked my head on a low beam.
Tap
A taproom.
Knock
To produce by hitting or striking
Knocked a hole in the wall.
Tap
A quick light blow, or the sound of such a blow
There was a sharp tap at the door
Knock
(Informal) To find fault with; criticize
Don't knock the food.
It's free.
Tap
Tap dancing
A rhythm much used in tap
Knock
To strike a sharp audible blow or series of blows, as on a door.
Tap
A bugle call for lights to be put out in army quarters
The bugler played taps
Knock
To collide with something
Knocked into the table.
Tap
Draw liquid through the tap or spout of (a cask, barrel, or other container)
Several barrels had been tapped to celebrate old victories
Knock
To make a pounding or clanking noise
The car engine is knocking.
Tap
Exploit or draw a supply from (a resource)
Clients from industry seeking to tap Edinburgh's resources of expertise
These magazines have tapped into a target market of consumers
Knock
An instance of striking or colliding.
Tap
Connect a device to (a telephone) so that conversation can be listened to secretly
The telephones were tapped by the state security police
Knock
The sound of a sharp blow on a hard surface.
Tap
Cut a thread in (something) to accept a screw
On most vices, the metal jaws are drilled and tapped to accept screws
Knock
A pounding or clanking noise made by an engine, often as a result of faulty fuel combustion. Also called ping.
Tap
Strike with a quick light blow or blows
One of my staff tapped me on the shoulder
Knock
(Slang) A cutting, often petty criticism.
Tap
Approach (a sports player) unlawfully with a view to signing them to another club while they are still under contract with their current one.
Knock
An abrupt rapping sound, as from an impact of a hard object against wood.
I heard a knock on my door.
Tap
Designate or select (someone) for a task or honour, especially membership of an organization or committee
He had been tapped earlier to serve in Costa Rica
Knock
A sharp impact.
He took a knock on the head.
Tap
To strike gently with a light blow or blows
I tapped you on the shoulder to get your attention.
Knock
(figuratively) A criticism.
Tap
To give a light rap with
Tap a pencil.
Knock
(figuratively) A blow or setback.
Tap
To produce with a succession of light blows
Tap out a rhythm.
Knock
Preignition, a type of abnormal combustion occurring in spark ignition engines caused by self-ignition; also, the characteristic knocking sound associated with it.
Tap
To select, as for membership in an organization; designate.
Knock
(cricket) A batsman's innings.
He played a slow but sure knock of 35.
Tap
To repair (shoe heels or toes) by applying a thin layer of leather or a substitute material.
Knock
Synonym of hunger knock
Tap
To attach metal plates to (shoe toes or heels).
Knock
To strike for admittance; to rap upon, as a door.
Tap
To deliver a gentle, light blow or blows.
Knock
To criticize verbally; to denigrate; to undervalue.
Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it.
Tap
To walk making light clicks.
Knock
To kick a ball towards another player; to pass.
Tap
To tap-dance.
Knock
To impress forcibly or strongly; to astonish; to move to admiration or applause.
Tap
To furnish with a spigot or tap.
Knock
To bump or impact.
I knocked against the table and bruised my leg.
I accidentally knocked my drink off the bar.
Tap
To pierce in order to draw off liquid
Tap a maple tree.
Knock
(intransitive) To rap one's knuckles against something, especially wood.
Knock on the door and find out if they’re home.
Tap
To draw (liquid) from a vessel or container
Tap a new keg of beer.
Knock
To drive or be driven against something; to strike against something; to clash; as, one heavy body knocks against another.
Tap
(Medicine) To withdraw fluid from (a body cavity).
Knock
To strike or beat with something hard or heavy; to rap; as, to knock with a club; to knock on the door.
For harbor at a thousand doors they knocked.
Seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
Tap
To make a physical connection with or open outlets from
Tap a water main.
Knock
To practice evil speaking or fault-finding; to criticize habitually or captiously.
Tap
To wiretap (a telephone or communications channel).
Knock
To strike with something hard or heavy; to move by striking; to drive (a thing) against something; as, to knock a ball with a bat; to knock the head against a post; to knock a lamp off the table.
When heroes knock their knotty heads together.
Tap
To establish an electric connection in (a power line), as to divert current secretly.
Knock
To strike for admittance; to rap upon, as a door.
Master, knock the door hard.
Tap
To establish access to or a connection with
Tapped a new market for inexpensive books.
Knock
To impress strongly or forcibly; to astonish; to move to admiration or applause.
Tap
To take advantage of; make use of
Tapped voter anger to win the election.
Knock
To criticise; to find fault with; to disparage.
Tap
To cut screw threads in (a collar, socket, or other fitting).
Knock
A blow; a stroke with something hard or heavy; a jar.
Tap
(Informal) To ask (a person) for money.
Knock
A stroke, as on a door for admittance; a rap.
A loud cry or some great knock.
Tap
A gentle blow.
Knock
The sound of knocking (as on a door or in an engine or bearing);
The knocking grew louder
Tap
The sound made by such a blow.
Knock
Negative criticism
Tap
A thin layer of leather or a substitute applied to a worn-down shoe heel or toe.
Knock
A vigorous blow;
The sudden knock floored him
He took a bash right in his face
He got a bang on the head
Tap
A metal plate attached to the toe or heel of a shoe, as for tap-dancing.
Knock
A bad experience;
The school of hard knocks
Tap
Tap dance.
Knock
The act of hitting vigorously;
He gave the table a whack
Tap
(Linguistics) See flap.
Knock
Deliver a sharp blow or push :
He knocked the glass clear across the room
Tap
A valve and spout used to regulate delivery of a fluid at the end of a pipe.
Knock
Rap with the knuckles;
Knock on the door
Tap
A plug for a bunghole; a spigot.
Knock
Knock against with force or violence;
My car bumped into the tree
Tap
Liquor drawn from a spigot.
Knock
Make light, repeated taps on a surface;
He was tapping his fingers on the table impatiently
Tap
Liquor of a particular brew, cask, or quality.
Knock
Sound like a car engine that is firing too early;
The car pinged when I put in low-octane gasoline
The car pinked when the ignition was too far retarded
Tap
(Medicine) The removal of fluid from a body cavity
A spinal tap.
Knock
Find fault with; express criticism of; point out real or perceived flaws;
The paper criticized the new movie
Don't knock the food--it's free
Tap
A tool for cutting an internal screw thread.
Tap
A makeshift terminal in an electric circuit.
Tap
A wiretap.
Tap
A tapering cylindrical pin or peg used to stop the vent in a cask.
Tap
A device used to dispense liquids.
We don't have bottled water; you'll have to get it from the tap.
Tap
Liquor drawn through a tap; hence, a certain kind or quality of liquor.
A liquor of the same tap
Tap
A place where liquor is drawn for drinking.
Tap
(mechanics) A device used to cut an internal screw thread. (External screw threads are cut with a die.)
We drilled a hole and then cut the threads with the proper tap to match the valve's thread.
Tap
A connection made to an electrical or fluid conductor without breaking it.
The system was barely keeping pressure due to all of the ill-advised taps along its length.
Tap
An interception of communication by authority.
Tap
A device used to listen in secretly on telephone calls.
Tap
A procedure that removes fluid from a body cavity.
Abdominal tap
Pleural tap
Spinal tap
Tap
(finance) The 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.
Tap issue; a bond tap
Tap
A gentle or slight blow; a light rap; a pat.
When Steve felt a tap on his shoulder, he turned around.
Tap
(dance) tap dance
Tap
The act of touching a touch screen.
Tap
A piece of leather fastened upon the bottom of a boot or shoe in repairing or renewing the sole or heel.
Tap
(military) A signal, by drum or trumpet, for extinguishing all lights in soldiers' quarters and retiring to bed; usually given about a quarter of an hour after tattoo.
Tap
(phonetics) A consonant sound made by a single muscle contraction, such as the sound [ ɾ ] in the standard American English pronunciation of body.
Tap
An Indian malarial fever.
Tap
To furnish with taps.
If we tap the maple trees, we can get maple syrup!
Tap
To draw off liquid from a vessel.
He tapped a new barrel of beer.
Tap
To deplete, especially of a liquid via a tap; to tap out.
Tap
To exploit.
Businesses are trying to tap the youth market.
Tap
To place a listening or recording device on a telephone or wired connection.
They can't tap the phone without a warrant.
Tap
To intercept a communication without authority.
He was known to tap cable television.
Tap
(mechanical) To cut an internal screw thread.
Tap an M3 thread all the way through the hole.
Tap
To turn or flip a card or playing piece to remind players that it has already been used that turn (by analogy to "tapping," in the sense of drawing on to the point of temporary exhaustion, the resources or abilities represented by the card).
Tap
(informal) To cadge, borrow or beg.
I tried to tap a cigarette off him, but he wouldn't give me one.
Tap
To drain off fluid by paracentesis.
Tap
To advance someone for a post or job, or for membership of a club.
Trump interviewed Mueller for FBI job day before he was tapped for special counsel.
Tap
To strike lightly.
She tapped him on the shoulder to get his attention.
Tap
To touch one's finger, foot, or other body parts on a surface (usually) repeatedly.
He was so nervous he began to tap his fingers on the table.
She tapped her companion on the back to indicate that she was ready to go.
Lydia tapped Jim on the shoulder to get his attention.
Tap
To make a sharp noise.
The tree, swaying in the breeze, began to tap on the window pane.
Tap
(graphical user interface) To operate an electronic device (e.g. a mobile phone) by tapping a specific place on its (capacitive or other) touch screen.
Tap
To designate for some duty or for membership, as in 'a tap on the shoulder'.
Tap
To have sexual intercourse with.
I would tap that hot girl over there.
I'd tap that.
Tap
(combat sports) To submit to an opponent by tapping one's hand repeatedly.
Tap
To force (an opponent) to submit.
Tap
To put a new sole or heel on.
To tap shoes
Tap
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.
Tap
To put a new sole or heel on; as, to tap shoes.
Tap
To strike a gentle blow.
Tap
To pierce so as to let out, or draw off, a fluid; as, to tap a cask, a tree, a tumor, a keg of beer, etc.
Tap
Hence, to draw resources from (a reservoir) in any analogous way; as, to tap someone's knowledge of the Unix system; to tap the treasury.
Tap
To draw, or cause to flow, by piercing.
He has been tapping his liquors.
Tap
To form an internal screw in (anything) by means of a tool called a tap; as, to tap a nut, a pipe, or tubing.
Tap
To connect a listening device to (a telephone or telegraph line) secretly, for the purpose of hearing private conversations; also, to obtain or record (information) by tapping; - a technique used by law enforcement agencies investigating suspected criminals. In the United States it is illegal without a court order permitting it.
Tap
A gentle or slight blow; a light rap; a pat.
Tap
A piece of leather fastened upon the bottom of a boot or shoe in repairing or renewing the sole or heel.
Tap
A signal, by drum or trumpet, for extinguishing all lights in soldiers' quarters and retiring to bed, - usually given about a quarter of an hour after tattoo.
Tap
A hole or pipe through which liquor is drawn.
Tap
A plug or spile for stopping a hole pierced in a cask, or the like; a faucet.
Tap
Liquor drawn through a tap; hence, a certain kind or quality of liquor; as, a liquor of the same tap.
Tap
A place where liquor is drawn for drinking; a taproom; a bar.
Tap
A tool for forming an internal screw, as in a nut, consisting of a hardened steel male screw grooved longitudinally so as to have cutting edges.
Tap
The sound made by a gentle blow
Tap
A faucet for drawing water from a pipe or cask
Tap
A gentle blow
Tap
A small metal plate that attaches to the toe or heel of a shoe (as in tap dancing)
Tap
A tool for cutting female (internal) screw threads
Tap
A plug for a bunghole in a cask
Tap
The act of tapping a telephone or telegraph line to get information
Tap
A light touch or stroke
Tap
Cut a female screw thread with a tap
Tap
Draw from or dip into to get something;
Tap one's memory
Tap a source of money
Tap
Strike lightly;
He tapped me on the shoulder
Tap
Draw from; make good use of;
We must exploit the resources we are given wisely
Tap
Tap a telephone or telegraph wire to get information;
The FBI was tapping the phone line of the suspected spy
Is this hotel room bugged?
Tap
Furnish with a tap or spout, so as to be able to draw liquid from it;
Tap a cask of wine
Tap
Make light, repeated taps on a surface;
He was tapping his fingers on the table impatiently
Tap
Walk with a tapping sound
Tap
Dance and make rhythmic clicking sounds by means of metal plates nailed to the sole of the dance shoes;
Glover tapdances better than anybody
Tap
Draw (liquor) from a tap;
Tap beer in a bar
Tap
Pierce in order to draw a liquid from;
Tap a maple tree for its syrup
Tap a keg of beer
Tap
Make a solicitation or entreaty for something; request urgently or persistently;
Henry IV solicited the Pope for a divorce
My neighbor keeps soliciting money for different charities
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