taste (teɪst)
v. tast•ed, tast•ing,
n. v.t.
1. to test the flavor or quality of by taking some into the mouth.
2. to eat or drink a little of.
3. to eat or drink: He hadn't tasted food for three days.
4. to perceive or distinguish the flavor of: to taste the wine in a sauce.
5. to experience, esp. to only a slight degree.
6. Archaic. to enjoy or appreciate.
v.i.
7. to try the flavor or quality of something.
8. to eat or drink a little (usu. fol. by of).
9. to perceive or distinguish the flavor of anything.
10. to have a particular flavor: The coffee tastes bitter.
11. to have experience, however limited (usu. fol. by of): to taste of victory even in defeat.
n.
12. the sense by which the flavor or savor of things is perceived when they are brought into contact with the tongue.
13. the sensation or quality as perceived by this sense; flavor.
14. the act of tasting food or drink.
15. a small quantity tasted.
16. a relish, liking, or partiality for something: a taste for music.
17. a sense of what is fitting, harmonious, or beautiful.
18. a sense of what is polite, tactful, etc., to say or do in a given social situation.
19. one's attitude toward or display of aesthetic or social values, regarded as good or bad: elegant taste in clothes; jokes in poor taste.
20. the ideas or preferences typical of a culture or an individual in regard to what is beautiful or harmonious: a sample of Victorian taste.
21. a slight experience of something: a taste of adventure.
22. a feeling or sensation resulting from an experience: a compromise that had left her with a bad taste.
[1250–1300; Middle English: to touch, taste < Old French taster to touch, explore by touching < Vulgar Latin *tastāre, probably by contraction from *taxitāre, frequentative of Latin taxāre to handle (see tax)]