teem
1to abound or swarm; be prolific or fertile (usually followed by with).
Obsolete. to be or become pregnant; bring forth young.
Obsolete. to produce (offspring).
Origin of teem
1Other words for teem
Other words from teem
- teemer, noun
Other definitions for teem (2 of 2)
to empty or pour out; discharge.
Origin of teem
2Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use teem in a sentence
He became delirious, his heartbeat grew ragged, his blood teemed with the virus, and his lungs, liver and kidneys began to fail.
The Daily Beast’s Best Longreads, Dec 8-14, 2014 | William Boot | December 13, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTOn Sunday one of its halls teemed with activists, some of them former political prisoners, paying their respects.
Hope and Change? Burma Kills a Journalist Before Obama Arrives | Joshua Carroll | November 11, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTNorth and South America, though at that time uninhabited by people, teemed with huge, unfamiliar, and fierce beasts.
The water teemed with fish, and birds innumerable came flying round us.
In the Wilds of Florida | W.H.G. KingstonNor was he mistaken, for it quickly passed from mouth to mouth, and in a few seconds the air teemed with shouts of 'Weller!'
The Pickwick Papers | Charles Dickens
It just teemed down, and in a few hours Flanders was churned up into a swamp of mud.
The Romance of the Red Triangle | Arthur Keysall YappAlready the big plaza teemed with commuters who neatly sidestepped the homeless people begging there.
Little Brother | Cory DoctorowMedical treatises teemed with discussions about its properties, some condemning, others commending it.
The Jesuits, 1534-1921 | Thomas J. Campbell
British Dictionary definitions for teem (1 of 2)
/ (tiːm) /
(intr usually foll by with) to be prolific or abundant (in); abound (in)
obsolete to bring forth (young)
Origin of teem
1British Dictionary definitions for teem (2 of 2)
/ (tiːm) /
(intr; often foll by down or with rain) to pour in torrents: it's teeming down
(tr) to pour or empty out
Origin of teem
2Derived forms of teem
- teemer, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Browse