noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   One whose business is to tap or draw ale or other liquor. archaic

   "[…] A tapster is a good trade: an old cloak makes a new jerkin; a withered serving-man a fresh tapster."

2. 2
   a tavern keeper who taps kegs or casks wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

barkeepbarmaidbartenderbootleggermoonshinerpublican

Example

More examples

"[…] A tapster is a good trade: an old cloak makes a new jerkin; a withered serving-man a fresh tapster."

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English tappestere, from Old English tæppestre (“barmaid”), equivalent to tap + -ster.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.