duct tape

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duct tape

Where it comes from

Probably a corruption or eggcorn of earlier duck tape (“thick, canvas-like tape”), resulting from the relative obscurity of the term duck (“a strong, durable, tightly woven fabric; canvas-like material”), reinforced by the use of the tape in joining together heating and air conditioning duct work. See also the etymology at duck tape.

noun duct tapes · duct-tape

countable, uncountable A generally gray waterproof adhesive tape used for many purposes and easy to cut with the hands. I used duct tape to cover the hole in a leaky pipe.
Similar: duck tape, gray tape

verb duct tapes · duct taping · duct taped · duct-tape

transitive To use duct tape in order to tape one object to another. The government tells us we can protect against a chemical attack by duct taping the windows.

Translations

Every language

noun multipurpose waterproof tape

Español	cinta americana, cinta plateada, tape (teip), teipe, cinta tapaducto
한국어	덕트 테이프 deokteu teipeu
日本語	ダクトテープ dakuto tēpu, ガムテープ gamu tēpu
中文	不透明膠帶 /不透明胶带 bútòumíng jiāodài, 塑膠膠帶 /塑胶胶带 sùjiāo jiāodài, 布基膠帶 /布基胶带 bùjī jiāodài
Português	silver tape
Français	chatterton, ruban adhésif
Deutsch	Panzerband, wasserfestes Gewebeklebeband, Gewebeband
Italiano	nastro adesivo
Русский	скотч skotč, изоле́нта izolénta
العربية	شَرِيط لَاصِق šarīṭ lāṣiq

verb use duct tape

Español	pegar con cinta americana
中文	用膠帶黏貼 /用胶带黏贴 yòng jiāodài niántiē
Deutsch	mit Gewebeband verkleben
Русский	закле́ить ско́тчем zakléitʹ skótčem, закле́ивать ско́тчем zakléivatʹ skótčem, закле́ить изоле́нтой zakléitʹ izoléntoj, закле́ивать изоле́нтой zakléivatʹ izoléntoj, скле́ить ско́тчем skléitʹ skótčem, скле́ивать ско́тчем skléivatʹ skótčem

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MLA

"duct tape." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/duct%20tape. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

duct tape. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/duct%20tape

Chicago

"duct tape." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/duct%20tape.

BibTeX

@misc{duct_tape_2026,
  title = {duct tape},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/duct%20tape},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}