teal
Americannoun
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teals,
plural
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teal
plural
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any of several species of small dabbling ducks, of worldwide distribution, usually traveling in tight flocks and frequenting ponds and marshes.
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Also called teal blue. a medium to dark greenish blue.
noun
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any of various small ducks, such as the Eurasian Anas crecca ( common teal ) that are related to the mallard and frequent ponds, lakes, and marshes
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a greenish-blue colour
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of teal
1275–1325; Middle English tele; akin to Dutch taling, Middle Low German telink
Compare meaning
How does teal compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
Teal things are colored a deep shade of blue-green, like the sparkling teal water in a tropical lagoon. The color gets its name from a kind of duck, also called a teal. The common teal is a migratory water bird, a duck with a teal stripe on its head and wings. The origin of the word is unclear, but we know the bird came first and then the color—the green-blue teal was first used in print in a 1923 clothing advertisement. It was added as an official color to the Plochere Color System, an interior design reference, in 1948, and became a Crayola crayon color in 1990.
Vocabulary lists containing teal
Blue
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Non-Color Words to Use When Describing Color
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Green
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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.
See Examples For:
Today, the home still boasts a textured, warm feel, coupled with several color-drenched spaces, such as a dark teal den—and a kitchen with bold green cabinets.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 31, 2026
The two-story brick building was repainted in Reform teal, a large picture of lions wearing Union Jack flags hung on one wall.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 22, 2026
Several local children with the condition joined him for a ceremony to illuminate the building in the campaign colour, teal.
From BBC ● Jun. 8, 2026
A chocolate brown Great Dane puppy with blue eyes and a teal collar sitting on a tile floor gazed at me from my computer screen — I squealed.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 8, 2026
The cinnamon teal waddled onto the bank and preened its feathers.
From "The House of the Scorpion" by Nancy Farmer
Its two members - Sydney MPs Zali Steggall and Allegra Spender - are from a group of independent MPs known as "teals" who share socially liberal values and want greater climate action.
From BBC ● Jun. 25, 2026
The flute bones, which came from Eurasian coots and Eurasian teals, were found in the Eynan/Ain Mallaha dig site linked to hunter-gatherers from the final Natufian period 12,000 years ago.
From Reuters ● Jun. 12, 2023
And Matisse’s bright violets and teals pop again on an advertisement for Nice.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 18, 2021
Two blue-winged teals dabble in one pothole that’s sprung back to life with the rains.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 4, 2019
Frightful looked down on black ducks, mallards, bluewinged teals, plovers, godwits, yellowlegs, sandpipers—all the migrating birds that loved wetlands.
From "Frightful's Mountain" by Jean Craighead George
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.
