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Scotch tape

Scotch tape

5 1.0
A clear sticky tape used to attach or fix paper and small items
  • noun
  • /skɑtʃ teɪp/
translation icon : cinta adhesiva Scotch
  • I need to buy Scotch tape for wrapping the gifts this weekend.
  • strip of Scotch tape
  • piece of Scotch tape
  • roll of Scotch tape

There was one that was really interesting, which involve some Scotch tape and some chapstick.

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Examples

  • "Could you please air-mail me some Scotch tape?"

  • She used Scotch tape to mend the torn page in her notebook.

  • "I was just getting the Scotch tape off my hands when I already had a customer in the store.

    Fiction book (1991)
  • You can't fix it with Scotch tape, you know.

  • "Jackson, you gotta get some Scotch tape from the pantry."

    Academic text (2003)
  • By the time he'd finished wrapping the small black comb, the package was as big as a football, gleaming under a mass of Scotch tape.

    Fiction book (1996)
  • After Coot had caught a ride and gone downtown, Ouida drove to Brown's drugstore and bought Scotch tape, white wrapping paper, and white ribbon.

    Fiction book (1998)
  • First, I took a paper version of the official Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) map (a version of which is shown in Figure 5-3), cut it up with scissors, and put it back together in a more efficient way (literally with Scotch tape), just to see the possibilities.

    Blog text (1)
  • After she got the ribbon off, she wound it around her hand and tucked it in her pocket, and then she unstuck the card (first rolling the strip of Scotch tape into a cylinder and pocketing that too).

    Fiction book (1998)
  • I know the newsboy would rather have two dollar bills than a $1.95 flashlight wrapped in green paper and silver ribbon with "MERVYN" spelled out in red Scotch tape.

    Fiction book (1993)

Synonyms

tape
vsScotch tape
277 1.0

A thin strip of cloth, paper, or plastic used to fasten things

is a specific sticky transparent version used for sealing and mending objects
adhesive tape
vsScotch tape
2 1.5

A strip of sticky material used to hold things together

is a specific transparent brand of that adhesive variety
Sellotape
vsScotch tape
  • UK
2.3

A thin clear sticky tape used to stick things together

is the North American brand name for the same transparent adhesive tape
cellulose tape
vsScotch tape
3.0

A clear sticky strip used to join or mend paper and other light things

is a commercial brand used more widely to seal or mend many objects

Surface Forms

Scotch tape singular
Scotch tapes plural

Morphology

Scotch + tape

The noun 'tape' clearly gives the core meaning (an adhesive strip) and 'Scotch' functions as an attributive modifier indicating a type or brand. A B1 learner who knows both words will reasonably infer this refers to a kind of adhesive tape even if they do not know the brand history, so the construction is compositionally transparent.

Etymology

The compound noun Scotch tape comes from a brand name and a small story: one popular story says people called the early rolls 'Scotch' because the makers were 'stingy' with the glue, so the thin sticky tape was simply called 'Scotch tape'. That's why today Scotch tape means a clear roll of sticky tape and is also a brand name.