📖 T — The English dictionary · page 2

tact — Everyday, meaning 1: Tact is skill in saying or doing the right thing without upsetting people.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: Tact is quick cleverness in dealing with a person or a difficult job.↗ Example: She showed tact when she told him the bad news.↗ · He used tact to calm the angry neighbour.↗ · With his usual tact, he persuaded the hero to come back.↗

tactful — Everyday, meaning 1: A tactful person is careful to say and do things in a way that does not upset or hurt others.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: A tactful remark or action is kind and careful about other people's feelings.↗ Example: It was tactful of you not to mention her haircut.↗ · The teacher gave tactful advice about the story.↗ · Mole was too tactful to laugh at Toad.↗ · Try to be tactful when you tell him he lost.↗ · She made a tactful excuse and left.↗ · A tactful friend knows when to stay quiet.↗

tactic — Everyday, meaning 1: A planned action or method used to get a result.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: (tactics) The way players or soldiers are arranged and moved to win a game or a battle.↗ Example: Our coach explained the tactics for the match.↗ · Crying was his tactic to get sweets.↗ · Let's try a different tactic.↗ · The general used clever tactics to win the battle.↗ · Working backwards is a good tactic for some maths problems.↗ · Scare tactics are used to frighten people into doing things.↗ · The team changed tactics in the second half.↗ · To what extent Hook is to blame for his tactics on this occasion is for the historian to decide.↗

tactical — Everyday, meaning 1: To do with the plans and moves used to win a game, battle or contest.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: Done carefully to get an advantage later: a tactical decision.↗ Example: Bringing on a fast player was a tactical change.↗ · She made a tactical move to trap my queen.↗ · The army made a tactical retreat.↗ · Sitting near the door was a tactical choice — first out for lunch!↗ · The coach gave a tactical talk at half-time.↗ · A tactical foul stops a quick attack.↗

tactile — Everyday, meaning 1: Tactile means about the sense of touch, or able to be felt by touching: tactile paving, a tactile map.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: A tactile thing is nice to touch.↗ e.g. "The soft clay is very tactile."↗ Everyday, meaning 3: A tactile person likes to touch others a lot, for example hugging or patting people.↗ Example: Braille is a tactile way of reading.↗ · The bumpy tactile paving shows blind people where the crossing is.↗ · Babies explore the world in a very tactile way.↗ · This book has tactile pages with fur and sandpaper.↗ · Grandma is very tactile and always hugs everyone.↗ · The museum has a tactile display you are allowed to touch.↗ · Some children are tactile learners who learn best by handling things.↗

tad — Everyday, meaning 1: (informal) A small amount; a little: «a tad of milk».↗ Everyday, meaning 2: (informal) «a tad» + adjective or adverb means «slightly, a little»: «a tad cold».↗ Everyday, meaning 3: (old, US) A small child, especially a boy.↗ Example: The soup is a tad salty.↗ · Could you turn the music down a tad?↗ · I'm a tad nervous about the test.↗ · «A tad late» said the teacher, when we were twenty minutes late.↗ · Pass me a tad more sugar, please.↗ · The jacket is a tad big, but you'll grow into it.↗

tadpole — Everyday, meaning 1: A tadpole is a young frog or toad that has just hatched from an egg; it lives in water, has a tail and breathes with gills.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: Informally, a tadpole can mean a very small child.↗ Example: We saw tadpoles swimming in the pond.↗ · A tadpole turns into a frog.↗ · Tadpoles breathe with gills.↗ · The tadpole grew back legs first.↗ · Frogspawn hatches into tadpoles.↗ · We kept tadpoles in a tank at school and let them go as frogs.↗ · Tadpoles eat tiny plants in the water.↗ · The tadpole's tail slowly disappeared.↗ · Brer Possum, he got his belly full er 'simmons, en Brer Coon, he scoop up a 'bunnunce er frogs en tadpoles.↗

taekwondo — Everyday, meaning 1: Taekwondo is a martial art and sport from Korea, famous for high, fast kicks and jumping and spinning kicks.↗ It is an Olympic sport.↗ Example: I go to taekwondo on Tuesdays.↗ · My sister got her yellow belt in taekwondo.↗ · Taekwondo is famous for its spinning kicks.↗ · In taekwondo we bow to show respect.↗ · Taekwondo became an Olympic sport in 2000.↗ · We wear head guards when we spar in taekwondo.↗ · The taekwondo master broke a board with one kick.↗

taffy — Everyday, meaning 1: (US, Canada) A soft, chewy sweet made by boiling sugar or molasses and pulling it until it is shiny and stretchy; salt-water taffy is a famous kind.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: (UK, old) Another word for toffee in some places.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: (a name) Taffy is the little girl in two of Kipling's Just So Stories, «How the First Letter Was Written» and «How the Alphabet Was Made»; her full name is Taffimai Metallumai, which she says means «Small-person-without-any-manners-who-ought-to-be-spanked».↗ Everyday, meaning 4: (UK, old, rude) An old nickname for a Welsh person; many Welsh people find it insulting, so do not use it.↗ Example: We bought a bag of salt-water taffy on the boardwalk.↗ · The taffy stuck to my teeth.↗ · Grandma showed us how to pull taffy until it went pale and shiny.↗ · Taffy drew a picture on birch bark to send a message to her mother.↗ · Taffy and her daddy Tegumai made the first letters together.↗ · Taffy was not very good at sitting still and being quiet.↗ · In the story, nobody could read Taffy's picture properly, so there was a big muddle.↗ · Still the turtle-dove cried: “Take two, Taffy, take two-o-o-o.”↗

tag — Everyday, meaning 1: A tag is a small label tied or stuck on something, like a price tag or a name tag.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: Tag is a running game where one player chases and touches the others.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: To tag is to touch someone in the game, or to put a label on something.↗ Everyday, meaning 4: To tag along is to go with others.↗ Example: The price tag says 15 dollars.↗ · Each shirt has a tag.↗ · She put 20 name tags on the desk.↗ · They played tag for 30 minutes.↗ · Tag, you're it!↗ · Can I tag along to the shops?↗ · The dog wears a tag with its name.↗ · Cut the tag off your new shirt.↗ · The scientists put tags on the birds to follow them.↗ · Ask before you tag a friend in a photo.↗

tagged — Everyday, meaning 1: Tagged means caught by being touched in the game of tag (tig, it).↗ Everyday, meaning 2: Tagged means having a label or tag fixed to it («The bag was tagged with a name»).↗ Everyday, meaning 3: Tagged means marked online with a name or label so that someone is linked to a photo or post.↗ Everyday, meaning 4: Tagged along means went with someone, often without being invited.↗ Everyday, meaning 5: Tagged animals have a small device or label attached so scientists can track them.↗ Example: I was tagged first, so I was «it».↗ · My little brother tagged along to the park.↗ · Someone tagged me in a photo without asking.↗ · Ask before you tag your friends online.↗ · Scientists tagged the shark to follow its journey.↗ · All the lost property is tagged with names.↗ · The coat was tagged with a price of 30 dollars.↗ · She tagged three people before the bell rang.↗

tagger — Everyday, meaning 1: A tagger is a person who sprays or writes their nickname or sign (a tag) on walls, trains or buildings, often without permission, which is illegal vandalism.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: In the playground game of tag (UK: tig, it), the tagger is the player who chases and touches the others.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: (computing) A tagger is a computer program that labels things automatically, for example labelling each word in a sentence as noun, verb or adjective (a part-of-speech tagger).↗ Everyday, meaning 4: A tagger is also a person or tool that attaches tags or labels, as on clothes or animals.↗ Example: Taggers had sprayed their names on the bus shelter.↗ · The council paid to clean up the taggers' graffiti.↗ · In the game, Mia was the tagger and chased us round the field.↗ · If the tagger touches you, you become the tagger.↗ · A part-of-speech tagger marks "run" as a verb or a noun.↗ · The scientist used a tagger to put tracking tags on the birds.↗ · Graffiti by taggers is against the law without permission.↗

tahitian — Everyday, meaning 1: Tahitian means from or about Tahiti, the largest island of French Polynesia in the South Pacific Ocean.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: A Tahitian is a person from Tahiti.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: Tahitian is also the Polynesian language spoken there, related to Māori and Hawaiian.↗ Example: Tahitian dancers move their hips very fast to drum music.↗ · Tahitian black pearls come from oysters in lagoons.↗ · Gauguin painted many Tahitian women.↗ · Tahitian is a Polynesian language close to Māori.↗ · A Tahitian fisherman paddled his outrigger canoe.↗ · Tahitian vanilla smells sweet and flowery.↗ · Captain Cook watched the stars from a Tahitian beach.↗

tai — Everyday, meaning 1: Tai chi (or t'ai chi) is a Chinese system of slow, flowing exercise movements, practised for health and calm.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: The Tai peoples and Tai languages include Thai and Lao and related languages of South-East Asia and southern China.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: (Mandarin, pinyin) "Tài" means "too" or "very", as in "tài hǎo le!"↗ (great! — sounds like "tie how luh"); "tài" is also in "tàiyáng", the sun.↗ Everyday, meaning 4: (a name) Tai is a first name, for example a Welsh or Chinese name.↗ It is not an English word on its own.↗ Everyday, meaning 5: A tai is a kind of red sea fish, also called red bream.↗ Example: Grandma does tai chi in the park every morning.↗ · Tai chi moves are slow and gentle.↗ · Thai and Lao are Tai languages.↗ · (Mandarin, pinyin) "Tài hǎo le!" means "That's great!"↗ · (Mandarin, pinyin) "Tài guì le" means "too expensive".↗ · We tried tai chi in PE and it was surprisingly hard.↗ · (a name) Tai is new in our class.↗ · “I think the TAI (the red bream) must be the thief who has stolen the hook!”↗

tail — Everyday, meaning 1: The part at the back end of an animal's body that sticks out and can often move.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: The back part of something: the tail of a plane, the tail of a comet.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: Tails: the side of a coin without the head picture.↗ Everyday, meaning 4: Verb: to follow someone closely and secretly.↗ Example: The dog wagged its tail.↗ · A cat uses its tail to balance.↗ · Heads or tails?↗ · A lizard can drop its tail to escape.↗ · Never pull an animal's tail.↗ · We sat at the tail of the plane.↗ · The comet had a long bright tail.↗ · Tadpoles lose their tails as they turn into frogs.↗ · RABBIT LOST HIS FINE BUSHY TAIL↗ · And he shall offer of it all the fat thereof: the fat tail, and the fat that covereth the inwards, (Torah LEV.7.3, JPS 1917)↗ · He shall lend to thee, and thou shalt not lend to him; he shall be the head, and thou shalt be the tail.↗ (Torah DEU.28.44, JPS 1917)↗ · and the fat of the ox, and of the ram, the fat tail, and that which covereth the inwards, and the kidneys, and the lobe of the liver.↗ (Torah LEV.9.19, JPS 1917)↗ · He straineth his tail like a cedar; the sinews of his thighs are knit together.↗ (Writings JOB.40.17, JPS 1917)↗ · Therefore the LORD doth cut off from Israel head and tail, palm-branch and rush, in one day.↗ (Prophets ISA.9.13, JPS 1917)↗ · Neither shall there be for Egypt any work, which head or tail, palm-branch or rush, may do.↗ (Prophets ISA.19.15, JPS 1917)↗

tailless — Everyday, meaning 1: Tailless means having no tail: a tailless animal, or an aircraft or kite built without a tail.↗ Example: Adult frogs are tailless, but tadpoles have tails.↗ · The Manx cat is a famous tailless breed.↗ · Apes are tailless, but most monkeys have tails.↗ · The lizard ran off tailless after the cat grabbed it.↗ · The kite was tailless and kept spinning.↗ · Koalas are almost tailless.↗ · If you see a tailless jackal you will know that he is the one you want.'↗ So the panther thanked him and went his way.↗

tailor — Everyday, meaning 1: A tailor is a person whose job is to make, mend or change clothes, especially suits and coats.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: To tailor clothes is to make them fit a person exactly.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: To tailor something is to make it suit a special need: a plan tailored to each child.↗ Example: A tailor needs 2 meters of cloth for each suit.↗ · The tailor sewed 5 buttons on each coat.↗ · The tailor made 12 shirts in a week.↗ · He charges 20 dollars for each dress.↗ · The tailor measured Dad for a new suit.↗ · The brave little tailor killed seven flies with one blow.↗ · The lessons are tailored to each child.↗ · On the way he met a tailor.↗

tailorbird — Everyday, meaning 1: A tailorbird is a small bird of tropical Asia, such as India and Southeast Asia, that makes its nest by sewing leaves together with plant fibres or spider silk, using its sharp beak like a needle.↗ Example: A tailorbird sews leaves together to hide its nest.↗ · The tailorbird uses its beak like a needle.↗ · Tailorbirds live in gardens and forests in India.↗ · The tailorbird's nest is hidden inside a leafy cup.↗ · In "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi", Darzee is a tailorbird.↗ · Tailorbirds use spider silk as thread.↗ · We watched a video of a tailorbird stitching a nest.↗ · It was Darzee, the Tailorbird, and his wife.↗

taipan — Everyday, meaning 1: A large, very venomous snake from Australia and New Guinea; the inland taipan has the strongest venom of any land snake.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: (history, Hong Kong and China) A powerful head of a foreign business company in the 1800s and early 1900s.↗ Example: The inland taipan has the strongest venom of any land snake.↗ · Taipans live in Australia.↗ · The ranger said the taipan is shy and avoids people.↗ · A taipan bite needs urgent medical help.↗ · The coastal taipan hunts rats in sugar cane fields.↗ · In old Hong Kong, a taipan ran a big trading company.↗