tea leaf
Britishnoun
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the dried leaf of the tea shrub, used to make tea
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(usually plural) shredded parts of these leaves, esp after infusion
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slang a thief
Etymology
Origin of tea leaf
sense 3 rhyming slang
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Staff can explain details like how the shape of a tea leaf and the length of time that it was oxidized affect its flavor profile.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 17, 2023
We want to find new insights, so — like a tea leaf reader or an astrologer — we read signs and omens into data that has no predictive power.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 25, 2022
He hasn’t talked publicly since the summer trade demand, and tea leaf readers are making a mint trying to decipher clues into how the impasse will be resolved.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 8, 2021
The tea leaf reading on this front is, well, mixed.
From Salon ● Jun. 18, 2021
Kitty pointed to several pencil scratches beside the tea leaf, intended to signify a brook and a weather-vane on a steeple.
From The Little Colonel's Christmas Vacation by Barry, Etheldred B. (Etheldred Breeze)
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
