tag

noun

/tæɡ/

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[countable] (often in compounds) a small piece of paper, cloth, plastic, etc. attached to something to identify it or give information about it
- He put name tags on all his shirts.
- a gift tag (= tied to a present)
Synonyms label
label
- tag
- sticker
These are all words for a piece of paper, cloth or plastic that is attached to something and gives information about it.
- label a small piece of paper, cloth or plastic that is attached to something in order to show what it is or give information about it:
  The washing instructions are on the label.
  address labels
- tag (often used in compounds) a small piece of paper, cloth or plastic that is attached to something, or that somebody wears, in order to give information about it/them:
  Everyone at the conference had to wear a name tag.
label or tag?Labels in clothes are usually made of cloth and sewn in. Tags on clothes are usually made of card and cut off before you wear the clothes. A name tag can be stuck or tied onto somebody to show who they are: All babies in the hospital have name tags tied round their ankles. Price tag is much more frequent than price label and is used for both literal and figurative meanings: What does the price tag say? • There is a £20 million price tag on the team’s star player. A label can also be a sticker that you put on an envelope.
- sticker a sticky label with a picture or message on it, that you stick on to something.
Patterns
- a price label/tag/sticker
- to have a label/tag/sticker
- to attach/put on/stick on a label/tag/sticker
- The label/tag/sticker says…
see also dog tag, name tag, price tag
Oxford Collocations Dictionary
adjective
- identification
- identity
- name
- …
verb + tag
- attach
- put
- remove
- …
phrases
- something carries a price tag of…
- something has a price tag of…
See full entry
[countable] an electronic device that can be attached to a person, animal or object so that police, researchers, etc. know where the person, etc. is
- The police use electronic tags to monitor the whereabouts of young offenders on probation.
[countable, usually singular] a name or phrase that is used to describe a person or thing in some way
- They are finally ready to drop the tag ‘the new Beatles’.
- The ‘lucky’ tag stuck for years.
- The president made several jokes in an attempt to shake off his ‘humourless’ tag.
[countable] (linguistics) a word or phrase that is added to a sentence for emphasis, for example I do in Yes, I do see also question tag
[countable] (computing) a set of letters or symbols that are put before and after a piece of text or data in order to identify it or show that it is to be treated in a particular way
[countable] a short quotation or saying in a foreign language
- the Latin tag ‘Si vis pacem, para bellum.’ (= if you want peace, prepare for war)
(British English also tig)
[uncountable] a children’s game in which one child runs after the others and tries to touch one of them see also phone tagTopics Games and toysc2
[countable] a symbol or name used by a graffiti writer and painted in a public place

Word Originnoun senses 1 to 5 late Middle English (denoting a narrow hanging section of a decoratively slashed garment): of unknown origin; compare with dag. The verb dates from the early 17th cent. noun sense 6 mid 18th cent.: perhaps a variant of tig.

tag

verb

/tæɡ/

Verb Forms

present simple I / you / we / they tag	/tæɡ/ /tæɡ/
he / she / it tags	/tæɡz/ /tæɡz/
past simple tagged	/tæɡd/ /tæɡd/
past participle tagged	/tæɡd/ /tæɡd/
-ing form tagging	/ˈtæɡɪŋ/ /ˈtæɡɪŋ/

Phrasal Verbs

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tag something/somebody to fasten a tag onto something/somebody
- Each animal was tagged with a number for identification.
- The containers were tagged with colour-coded labels.
tag somebody/something to attach an electronic device to a person, animal or object so that the police, researchers, etc. know where the person, etc. is
- Persistent young offenders will be electronically tagged in a scheme to cut youth crime.
see also electronic tagging
tag somebody/something as something to give somebody/something a name that describes what they are or do synonym label
- The country no longer wanted to be tagged as a Third World nation.
tag something (computing) to add a set of letters or symbols to a piece of text or data in order to identify it or to show that it is to be treated in a particular way
tag somebody/something to add a link to various users' profiles from a photo on a social media website
- If you upload a photo, people can tag the people in it.
- The site lets you tag and share photographs.
tag something to leave a name or mark on a piece of graffiti to show who made it
- Graffiti artists started tagging and painting entire subway trains.

Word Originverb late Middle English (denoting a narrow hanging section of a decoratively slashed garment): of unknown origin; compare with dag. The verb dates from the early 17th cent.