tap out v.
1. (orig. US) to come to the end of one’s finances; also attrib.
Runyon on Broadway (1954) 675: The character [...] unfortunately taps out on the first proposition and has nothing with which to bet on the second. | ‘A Piece of Pie’ in||
Diamonds Are Forever (1958) 72: Drunks [...] were also considered menaces when they tapped out. | ||
Pimp 187: I gotta get my coat pulled before I tap out. | ||
Airtight Willie and Me 131: He pushed his tap-out pile of green into the pot. | ||
Tip on a Dead Crab 123: That jerk thinks betting horses is like putting your money in the bank. If horses was boats, he’d have tapped out on the Titanic. | ||
(con. 1920s) Legs 155: He’d be next door at the bookmaker’s [...] His absence was a good sign. If he’d tapped out he’d be in the pool room. | ||
Campus Sl. Fall 11: TAP OUT – run out of something, e.g., energy, money: ‘I can’t go to the movies because my checking account is TAPPED OUT.’ // ‘I have got to go to bed; I am TAPPED OUT.’. | ||
Pulp Ink [ebook] He’d tapped out the cash reserves, y’know? | ‘Zed’s Dead, Baby’ in
2. to fail, to ‘draw a blank’.
(con. 1964–8) Cold Six Thousand 131: Pete searched for Betty. He tapped out. That was good [...] Betty got smart and ran. |
3. to relieve someone of their last money.
World of Jimmy Breslin (1968) 126: I have to go [...] and tap out on the trumpet player. | ||
Airtight Willie and Me 132: It would be hazardous to his health and winnings to tap-out Starkey. |
4. in a fight, to give in, to surrender by indicating with a tap on the ground.
Burn 85: Now you’ve had the dick. Submit. Go on. Tap out. Slap the ground. That’s the finish. You’re history now. | ||
Iron Circle 11: Chiao and I would meet, greet, and fight until one of us tapped out, couldn’t get up, or was dead. |
5. (US campus) to be exhausted [fig. use of sense 1].
see sense 1. |
6. to reach a conclusion.
Destination: Morgue! (2004) 34: The crisis tapped out. The arometer lied. | ‘Where I Get My Weird Shit’ in
7. (US drugs) of a dealer, or individual, to reach the end of one’s drug supply.
Wire ser. 1 ep. 12 [TV script] We gonna tap out by noon. | ‘Cleaning Up’
8. (US) to die.
The Force [ebook] ‘Harry tapped out in the saddle and we want to spare the widow and the kids the embarrassment’. |