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Glite Dictionary
to tap the keg

to tap the keg

1 6.1
To start pouring beer from a keg by attaching something that lets beer flow
  • phrasal verb
  • Informal
translation icon : abrir el barril
  • Everyone cheered as she prepared to tap the keg at the annual beer festival.

Examples

  • He asked the bartender to tap the keg so everyone could enjoy fresh beer.

  • He quit the room, tapped the keg for a final few drops, and went outside.

    Fiction book (2002)

  • As soon as the party started, we gathered around to tap the keg and serve the first round of drinks.

Synonyms

to tap
vsto tap the keg
32 1.1

To take liquid from a container or tree

means starting to serve beer by opening a beer barrel and fitting a spout

Surface Forms

tap the keg infinitive
tapped the keg past
tapped the keg past participle
tapping the keg present participle
taps the keg third person singular

Morphology

tap + the + keg

The meaning 'to begin serving beer by opening a keg' follows directly from combining 'tap' (make an opening to draw out liquid) with 'keg' (a small barrel): the action is literally to make an opening in the barrel to draw drink. This simple verb+object compositional pattern is common and predictable, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words would readily infer the MWE meaning.

Etymology

Tap the keg comes from the real action of putting a tap into a full keg so beer flows out. So when someone says tap the keg, it means 'to begin serving beer' at a party.