Taper

• Fishing rod tapers, a measure of the flexibility of a fishing rod
• In geometry, or in the casual description of a shaper or object, a gradual thinning or narrowing towards one end
• Machine taper, in machinery and engineering
• Mark Taper Forum, a theatre in the Los Angeles Music Center
• A ratio used in aeronautics (see Chord (aircraft))
• A thin candle is called a taper
• Philadelphia Tapers (also New York Tapers and Washington Tapers), a defunct professional basketball team
• Taper (cymbal), the reduction in thickness of a cymbal from center to rim
• Taper pin, used in body piercing and manufacturing
• Tapering (sports), a period of rest before competition
• A misspelling of Tapir, a large, pig-like mammal with a prehensile snout

Taper as a surname:

• Louise Taper, American historian
• Mark Taper, American developer, financier and philanthropist