TAPER • E-FREE TRANSLATION.COM • Definition of Taper

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/tˈeɪpər/ Listen

noun

Taper n.

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

A tapering form; gradual diminution of thickness in an elongated object; as, the taper of a spire.

verb

Taper v. t. To make or cause to taper.

Taper v. i. (past & past part. tapered; pres. part. tapering) To become gradually smaller toward one end; as, a sugar loaf tapers toward one end.

adjective

Taper adj. Regularly narrowed toward the point; becoming small toward one end; conical; pyramidical; as, taper fingers.

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Etymology of 'Taper'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Taper" Quotes from Famous Books

... his wrist. It had not been there before. Of course the spirits had slipped it on. He let this pass then. He had not the discourtesy to explain that a very pretty girl at his side had gently manoeuvred it into its place. Her taper fingers were very soft and ...

— The Argosy - Vol. 51, No. 2, February, 1891 • Various

... watched our pursuers, first one raised a mast and a long taper yard, then another, and they were soon under all sail standing after us. The breeze increased; we gave a cheer, hoping soon to get well ahead of them. Still on they came, and it seemed very doubtful whether we should succeed. I believe that some of the crew would rather have had a fight ...

— Peter Trawl - The Adventures of a Whaler • W. H. G. Kingston

... all those natural powers which shape the mould of races, —that you may look in vain for verification of ethnological assertions.... No: the heel does not protrude;—the foot is not flat, but finely arched;—the extremities are not large;—all the limbs taper, all the muscles are developed; and prognathism has become so rare that months of research may not yield a single striking case of it.... No: this is a special race, peculiar to the island as are the shapes of its peaks,—a mountain race; and mountain ...

— Two Years in the French West Indies • Lafcadio Hearn

... commonly grows the Piemento, or All-Spice-Tree, whose Berries differ in shape from those in the West-Indies, being Taper or Conick, yet not inferiour, to any of that sort. This Tree grows much like the Hurts, and is of the same Bigness. I have known it transplanted to high ...

— A New Voyage to Carolina • John Lawson

... Blackmoor estate there is a small wood called Losel's, of a few acres, that was lately furnished with a set of oaks of a peculiar growth and great value; they were tall and taper-like firs, but standing near together had very small heads, only a little brush without any large limbs. About twenty years ago the bridge at the Toy, near Hampton Court, being much decayed, some trees were wanted for the repairs that were fifty feet long without bough, and ...

— The Natural History of Selborne, Vol. 1 • Gilbert White

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