from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
- n. A small or very slender candle.
- n. A long wax-coated wick used to light candles or gas lamps.
- n. A source of feeble light.
- n. A gradual decrease in thickness or width of an elongated object.
- n. A gradual decrease, as in action or force.
- intransitive v. To become gradually narrower or thinner toward one end.
- intransitive v. To diminish or lessen gradually. Often used with off: The storm finally tapered off.
- transitive v. To make thinner or narrower at one end.
- transitive v. To make smaller gradually.
- adj. Gradually decreasing in size toward a point.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
- n. A slender wax candle; a small lighted wax candle; hence, a small light.
- n. A tapering form; gradual diminution of thickness and/or cross section in an elongated object
- v. To make thinner or narrower at one end.
- v. To diminish gradually.
- n. One who operates a tape machine.
- n. Someone who works with tape or tapes.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English
- adj. Regularly narrowed toward the point; becoming small toward one end; conical; pyramidical.
- n. A small wax candle; a small lighted wax candle; hence, a small light.
- n. A tapering form; gradual diminution of thickness in an elongated object.
- intransitive v. To become gradually smaller toward one end.
- transitive v. To make or cause to taper.
from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Long and becoming slenderer toward the point; becoming small toward one end.
- Diminished; reduced.
- To become taper; become gradually slenderer; grow less in diameter; diminish in one direction.
- To diminish; grow gradually less.
- To spring up in or as in a tall, tapering form.
- To stop slowly or by degrees; cease gradually.
- To cause to taper; make gradually smaller, especially in diameter; cause to diminish toward a point.
- n. A gradual decrease of power or capacity.
- n. A candle, especially a very slender candle; any device for giving light by the agency of a wick coated with combustible matter.
- n. Tapering form; gradual diminution of thickness in an elongated object; that which possesses a tapering form: as, the taper of a spire.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- v. diminish gradually
- n. a convex shape that narrows toward a point
- n. stick of wax with a wick in the middle
- n. a loosely woven cord (in a candle or oil lamp) that draws fuel by capillary action up into the flame
- n. the property possessed by a shape that narrows toward a point (as a wedge or cone)
- v. give a point to
The deacon lights a taper from the Easter fire, and presents it to the priest, who uses it to light the Paschal candle.
“This one,” he says, reaching into a plastic bin that at elBulli is called a taper an abbreviation and approximate phonetic rendering of Tupperware, “has nothing to do with this one.”
People often ask me whether I believe that cutting the hair and singeing the ends with a lighted taper is beneficial for the growth.
The scandal continues as the identity of the secret taper is debated and the existence of more secret video is speculated on.
A lighted taper is put into the hand of each lady, and a procession was formed, two by two, which marched all through the house, the corridors and walls of which were all decorated with evergreens and lamps, the whole party singing the Litanies.
Digg For three days after death hair and fingernails continue to grow but phone calls taper off.
"For three days after death hair and fingernails continue to grow but phone calls taper off."
U.der current tax regulations, U. K.-based private-equity firms can pay as little as 10% on carried interest due to a provision, known as taper relief, that allows the effective rate of capital-gains tax to fall on investments held for more than two years.
Also, to the benefit of private-equity firms, a so-called taper-relief program designed to promote entrepreneurship reduces capital-gains tax to as little as 10% for private companies that are held for more than two years.
The taper is the final phase of training when an athlete gradually begins to decrease the volume and intensity of workouts to begin recovery.