Link Centre Dictionary

wiretap

wi·re·tap

UK/ˈwaɪətæp/ US/ˈwaɪɚtæp/ uncommon

noun

1.

verb

1.

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?”

Origin

Back-formation from wiretapper; or else wire + tap

Related words

Broader terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.