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• tea party
  tea party

  noun

  a social gathering, usually in the afternoon, at which tea and light refreshments are served.
• Tea Party
  Tea Party

  noun

  (in the US) a political movement, associated with the right wing of the Republican Party, favouring reduction in taxation and government spending

tea party

American  

noun

• tea parties
  plural

1. a social gathering, usually in the afternoon, at which tea and light refreshments are served.

2. (initial capital letters) a conservative political movement in the U.S. that opposes taxes and government spending: named in reference to the Boston Tea Party of 1773.

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Tea Party ¹ British  

noun

1. (in the US) a political movement, associated with the right wing of the Republican Party, favouring reduction in taxation and government spending

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tea party ² British  

noun

1. a social gathering in the afternoon at which tea is served

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• tea parties
  plural

Etymology

Origin of tea party

First recorded in 1770–80

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

tea party Tea Party

Maybe you could call it a tea party wokeness, purged of pedants and scolds.

From Slate ● Aug. 17, 2026

“But we used to play tea party with this,” I replied, rescuing the lion and bringing it back inside.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 17, 2026

Vibes: cursed tea party, haunted cottage, abandoned in a mansion.

From Salon ● Jun. 5, 2026

He rose up the ranks of Congress during the tea party movement, which advocated for less government interference.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 23, 2026

Which one had been the one that had the tea party?

From "Glitch" by Laura Martin

Former Tea Party congressman Joe Walsh describes him as a “sociopath.”

From Salon ● Jul. 17, 2026

North raises sloth-like eyes to the horizon, as though hearing of the Boston Tea Party.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 13, 2026

And around the corner, by the Fort Point Channel and near the Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum, sits rival Wellington.

From Barron's ● May 1, 2026

He caught the eye of Bill Montgomery, a retired businessman and Tea Party activist more than 50 years his senior, who took Kirk under his wing.

From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2025

Church was a trusted Patriot, a tea tosser at the Boston Tea Party, a Son of Liberty, and an adviser to the Second Continental Congress.

From "George Washington, Spymaster" by Thomas B. Allen