Tap vs. Press — What's the Difference?

A device by which a flow of liquid or gas from a pipe or container can be controlled

To exert steady weight or force against

A device connected to a telephone for listening secretly to someone's conversations

To move by applying pressure

An instrument for cutting a threaded hole in a material.

To squeeze or clasp in fondness or concern

A taproom.

To squeeze the juice or other contents from

A quick light blow, or the sound of such a blow

To extract (juice, for example) by squeezing or compressing.

Tap dancing

To reshape or make compact by applying steady force; compress

A bugle call for lights to be put out in army quarters

To iron (clothing, for example).

Draw liquid through the tap or spout of (a cask, barrel, or other container)

To make (a sound recording), originally by pressing (a vinyl phonograph record) under pressure in a mold.

Exploit or draw a supply from (a resource)

To bear down on or attack

Connect a device to (a telephone) so that conversation can be listened to secretly

To carry on or advance vigorously (an attack, for instance).

Cut a thread in (something) to accept a screw

To place in trying or distressing circumstances

Strike with a quick light blow or blows

To insist upon or put forward insistently

Approach (a sports player) unlawfully with a view to signing them to another club while they are still under contract with their current one.

To try to influence or persuade, as by insistent arguments; pressure or entreat

Designate or select (someone) for a task or honour, especially membership of an organization or committee

To insist that someone accept (something). Often used with on or upon

To strike gently with a light blow or blows

(Sports) To lift (a weight) to a position above the head without moving the legs.

To give a light rap with

To exert force or pressure

To produce with a succession of light blows

To be worrisome or depressing; weigh heavily

To select, as for membership in an organization; designate.

To advance eagerly; move forward urgently

To repair (shoe heels or toes) by applying a thin layer of leather or a substitute material.

To assemble closely and in large numbers; crowd

To attach metal plates to (shoe toes or heels).

To continue a course of action, especially in spite of difficulties

To deliver a gentle, light blow or blows.

To require haste or urgent action

To walk making light clicks.

To employ urgent persuasion or entreaty

To tap-dance.

To iron clothes or other material.

To furnish with a spigot or tap.

(Sports) To raise or lift a weight in a press.

To pierce in order to draw off liquid

(Basketball) To employ a press.

To draw (liquid) from a vessel or container

(Sports) In golf, to try to hit long or risky shots, typically with unsuccessful results.

(Medicine) To withdraw fluid from (a body cavity).

To force into service in the army or navy; impress.

To make a physical connection with or open outlets from

To take arbitrarily or by force, especially for public use.

To wiretap (a telephone or communications channel).

To use in a manner different from the usual or intended, especially in an emergency.

To establish an electric connection in (a power line), as to divert current secretly.

Any of various machines or devices that apply pressure

To establish access to or a connection with

A printing press.

To take advantage of; make use of

A place or establishment where matter is printed

To cut screw threads in (a collar, socket, or other fitting).

A publishing company

(Informal) To ask (a person) for money.

The communications media considered as a whole, especially the agencies that collect, publish, transmit, or broadcast news and other information to the public

A gentle blow.

News or other information disseminated to the public in printed, broadcast, or electronic form

The sound made by such a blow.

The people involved in the media, as news reporters and broadcasters

A thin layer of leather or a substitute applied to a worn-down shoe heel or toe.

The kind or extent of coverage a person or event receives in the media

A metal plate attached to the toe or heel of a shoe, as for tap-dancing.

A large gathering; a crowd

Tap dance.

The act of gathering in large numbers or of pushing forward

(Linguistics) See flap.

An act of pressing down or applying pressure

A valve and spout used to regulate delivery of a fluid at the end of a pipe.

The haste or urgency of business or matters

A plug for a bunghole; a spigot.

The set of proper creases in a garment or fabric, formed by ironing.

Liquor drawn from a spigot.

Chiefly Scots and Irish An upright closet or case used for storing clothing, books, or other articles.

Liquor of a particular brew, cask, or quality.

(Sports) A lift in weightlifting in which the weight is raised to shoulder level and then steadily pushed straight overhead without movement of the legs.

(Medicine) The removal of fluid from a body cavity

(Basketball) An aggressive defense tactic in which players guard opponents closely, often over the entire court.

A tool for cutting an internal screw thread.

Conscription or impressment into service, especially into the army or navy.

A makeshift terminal in an electric circuit.

(Obsolete) An official warrant for impressing men into military service.

A wiretap.

An instance of applying pressure; an instance of pressing.

A tapering cylindrical pin or peg used to stop the vent in a cask.

(countable) A device used to apply pressure to an item.

A device used to dispense liquids.

(countable) A printing machine.

Liquor drawn through a tap; hence, a certain kind or quality of liquor.

The print-based media (both the people and the newspapers).

A place where liquor is drawn for drinking.

(countable) A publisher.

(mechanics) A device used to cut an internal screw thread. (External screw threads are cut with a die.)

An enclosed storage space (e.g. closet, cupboard).

A connection made to an electrical or fluid conductor without breaking it.

An exercise in which weight is forced away from the body by extension of the arms or legs.

An interception of communication by authority.

An additional bet in a golf match that duplicates an existing (usually losing) wager in value, but begins even at the time of the bet.

A device used to listen in secretly on telephone calls.

(countable) Pure, unfermented grape juice.

A procedure that removes fluid from a body cavity.

A commission to force men into public service, particularly into the navy.

(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.

(obsolete) A crowd.

A gentle or slight blow; a light rap; a pat.

(psychology) In personology, any environmental factor that arouses a need in the individual.

(dance) tap dance

(ambitransitive) To exert weight or force against, to act upon with force or weight; to exert pressure upon.

The act of touching a touch screen.

To activate a button or key by exerting a downward or forward force on it, and then releasing it.

A piece of leather fastened upon the bottom of a boot or shoe in repairing or renewing the sole or heel.

(transitive) To compress, squeeze.

(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.

(transitive) To clasp, hold in an embrace.

(phonetics) A consonant sound made by a single muscle contraction, such as the sound [ɾ] in the standard American English pronunciation of body.

(transitive) To reduce to a particular shape or form by pressure, especially flatten or smooth.

An Indian malarial fever.

To flatten a selected area of fabric using an iron with an up-and-down, not sliding, motion, so as to avoid disturbing adjacent areas.

To furnish with taps.

(transitive) To drive or thrust by pressure, to force in a certain direction.

To draw off liquid from a vessel.

To weigh upon, oppress, trouble.

To deplete, especially of a liquid via a tap; to tap out.

(transitive) To force to a certain end or result; to urge strongly.

To exploit.

To try to force (something upon someone).

To place a listening or recording device on a telephone or wired connection.

(transitive) To hasten, urge onward.

To intercept a communication without authority.

(transitive) To urge, beseech, entreat.

(mechanical) To cut an internal screw thread.

(transitive) To lay stress upon.

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).

(ambitransitive) To throng, crowd.

(informal) To cadge, borrow or beg.

To print.

To drain off fluid by paracentesis.

To force into service, particularly into naval service.

To advance someone for a post or job, or for membership of a club.

An East Indian insectivore (Tupaia ferruginea). It is arboreal in its habits, and has a bushy tail. The fur is soft, and varies from rusty red to maroon and to brownish black.

To strike lightly.

A commission to force men into public service, particularly into the navy.

To touch one's finger, foot, or other body parts on a surface (usually) repeatedly.

An apparatus or machine by which any substance or body is pressed, squeezed, stamped, or shaped, or by which an impression of a body is taken; sometimes, the place or building containing a press or presses.

To make a sharp noise.

Specifically, a printing press.

(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.

The art or business of printing and publishing; hence, printed publications, taken collectively, more especially newspapers or the persons employed in writing for them; as, a free press is a blessing, a licentious press is a curse.

To designate for some duty or for membership, as in 'a tap on the shoulder'.

An upright case or closet for the safe keeping of articles; as, a clothes press.

To have sexual intercourse with.

The act of pressing or thronging forward.

(combat sports) To submit to an opponent by tapping one's hand repeatedly.

Urgent demands of business or affairs; urgency; as, a press of engagements.

To force (an opponent) to submit.

A multitude of individuals crowded together; crowd of single things; a throng.

To put a new sole or heel on.

To force into service, particularly into naval service; to impress.

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.

To urge, or act upon, with force, as weight; to act upon by pushing or thrusting, in distinction from pulling; to crowd or compel by a gradual and continued exertion; to bear upon; to squeeze; to compress; as, we press the ground with the feet when we walk; we press the couch on which we repose; we press substances with the hands, fingers, or arms; we are pressed in a crowd.

To put a new sole or heel on; as, to tap shoes.

To squeeze, in order to extract the juice or contents of; to squeeze out, or express, from something.

To strike a gentle blow.

To squeeze in or with suitable instruments or apparatus, in order to compact, make dense, or smooth; as, to press cotton bales, paper, etc.; to smooth by ironing; as, to press clothes.

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.

To embrace closely; to hug.

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.

To oppress; to bear hard upon.

To draw, or cause to flow, by piercing.

To straiten; to distress; as, to be pressed with want or hunger.

To form an internal screw in (anything) by means of a tool called a tap; as, to tap a nut, a pipe, or tubing.

To exercise very powerful or irresistible influence upon or over; to constrain; to force; to compel.

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.

To try to force (something upon some one); to urge or inculcate with earnestness or importunity; to enforce; as, to press divine truth on an audience.

A gentle or slight blow; a light rap; a pat.

To drive with violence; to hurry; to urge on; to ply hard; as, to press a horse in a race.

A piece of leather fastened upon the bottom of a boot or shoe in repairing or renewing the sole or heel.

To exert pressure; to bear heavily; to push, crowd, or urge with steady force.

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.

To move on with urging and crowding; to make one's way with violence or effort; to bear onward forcibly; to crowd; to throng; to encroach.

A hole or pipe through which liquor is drawn.

To urge with vehemence or importunity; to exert a strong or compelling influence; as, an argument presses upon the judgment.

A plug or spile for stopping a hole pierced in a cask, or the like; a faucet.

Newspaper writers and photographers

Liquor drawn through a tap; hence, a certain kind or quality of liquor; as, a liquor of the same tap.

The state of urgently demanding notice or attention;

A place where liquor is drawn for drinking; a taproom; a bar.

The gathering and publishing of news in the form of newspapers or magazines

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.

A machine used for printing

The sound made by a gentle blow

A dense crowd of people

A faucet for drawing water from a pipe or cask

A tall piece of furniture that provides storage space for clothes; has a door and rails or hooks for hanging clothes

A gentle blow

Clamp to prevent wooden rackets from warping when not in use

A small metal plate that attaches to the toe or heel of a shoe (as in tap dancing)

Any machine that exerts pressure to form or shape or cut materials or extract liquids or compress solids

A tool for cutting female (internal) screw threads

A weightlift in which the barbell is lifted to shoulder height and then smoothly lifted overhead

A plug for a bunghole in a cask

The act of pressing; the exertion of pressure;

The act of tapping a telephone or telegraph line to get information

Exert pressure or force to or upon;

A light touch or stroke

Force or impel in an indicated direction;

Cut a female screw thread with a tap

To be oppressive or burdensome;

Draw from or dip into to get something;

Place between two surfaces and apply weight or pressure;

Strike lightly;

Squeeze or press together;

Draw from; make good use of;

Crowd closely;

Tap a telephone or telegraph wire to get information;

Create by pressing;

Furnish with a tap or spout, so as to be able to draw liquid from it;

Be urgent;

Make light, repeated taps on a surface;

Exert oneself continuously, vigorously, or obtrusively to gain an end or engage in a crusade for a certain cause or person; be an advocate for;

Walk with a tapping sound

Press from a plastic;

Dance and make rhythmic clicking sounds by means of metal plates nailed to the sole of the dance shoes;

Make strenuous pushing movements during birth to expel the baby;

Draw (liquor) from a tap;

Lift weights;

Pierce in order to draw a liquid from;

Ask for or request earnestly;

Make a solicitation or entreaty for something; request urgently or persistently;