tea bag

¹

noun

1. a container of thin paper or cloth holding a measured amount of tea leaves for making an individual serving of tea.

tea-bag

²

[tee-bag]

verb (used with object)

Slang.

tea-bagged, tea-bagging 

1. to place one's scrotum in the mouth of (one's sexual partner).

tea bag

noun

1. a small bag of paper or cloth containing tea leaves, infused in boiling water to make tea

Word History and Origins

Origin of tea bag¹

First recorded in 1900–05

Origin of tea bag²

From its resemblance to dipping a tea bag in a cup of hot water

Example Sentences

Homegrown hacks - tea bags in shoes, sprinkling baking soda, spraying deodorant - weren't cutting it.

From BBC

The service said in some cases parents had been going without food so their children could eat, or were making items like one tea bag last a week.

From BBC

“You can also ask for the tea bag on the side, if you want the water to cool down for a minute, just so you're at a better brewing temperature.”

From Salon

While tea bags may seem an unusual instrument to measure this phenomenon, it is a proven proxy method to measure carbon release from soil into the atmosphere.

From Science Daily

Jurado swirled around a Rooibos tea bag with a tag read, “Your Actions Prove Your Greatness.”

From Los Angeles Times

When To Use

What does tea-bag mean?

Tea-bagging is the act of placing one's testicles in the mouth of another person, often repeatedly, raising and lowering it like a person dipping a tea bag.Content warning: the following sections include further references to sexual content, which is involved in the history and use of the slang term.