tapas

Noun (1)

tapas pl (normally plural, singular tapa)

1. (plural, plural-normally) A variety of Spanish small savoury food items or snacks such as croquettes, cured meat, potato salad, and seafood, originally served with sherry and now often with other alcoholic beverages as well.
   • The snacks are called tapas because in the old days a piece of toast was served, too, so that you might have a "top" on your glass of sherry, a lid that would prevent the flies from getting into the glass.1986, Jeff Smith, “The Tapas Buffet (Spain)”, in The Frugal Gourmet Cooks with Wine, New York, N.Y.: William Morrow and Company, →ISBN, page 88
   • Most food scholars agree that the tapas tradition originated in the wine-growing regions of Andalusia, eventually spreading throughout the country. The Moors (Muslim Arabs), who dominated Spain from the beginning of the eighth century until the end of the fifteenth century, settled in the same...2013, Joyce Goldstein, “Introduction”, in Tapas: Sensational Small Plates from Spain, San Francisco, Calif.: Chronicle Books, →ISBN, page 8

Noun (2)

UK/ˈtæp.æs/US/ˈtæp.əs/

tapas (uncountable)

1. (Hinduism, Jainism) (The practice of) asceticism and self-discipline.