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Difference between On tap and On the tap

on tap

1. (of beer, etc.) drawn from a cask:

  • The high-density drink is Geuze (so called when it is bottled, and Lambic when it is on tap).

2. (coll.) available for immediate use:

  • I don’t believe in investing every penny one has; I like to have a few hundred pounds on tap.

3. (coll.) said of smth. scheduled to happen very soon:

  • More military and medical experiments are on tap for Atlantis astronauts today.

on the tap—(sl.) begging for money, etc.; asking for a loan:

  • She was a real moaner and always on the tap, borrowing sugar and milk.