team
Americannoun
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teams
plural
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a number of persons forming one of the sides in a game or contest.
a football team.
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a number of persons associated in some joint action.
a team of advisers.
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two or more horses, oxen, or other animals harnessed together to draw a vehicle, plow, or the like.
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one or more draft animals together with the harness and vehicle drawn.
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a family of young animals, especially ducks or pigs.
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Obsolete. offspring or progeny; lineage or stock.
verb (used with object)
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teams,
present (3rd person singular)
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teamed,
past participle, past
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teaming
present participle
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to join together in a team.
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Chiefly Northern U.S. Older Use. to convey or transport by means of a team; haul.
verb (used without object)
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teams,
present (3rd person singular)
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teamed,
past participle, past
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teaming
present participle
adjective
noun
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a group of people organized to work together
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a group of players forming one of the sides in a sporting contest
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two or more animals working together to pull a vehicle or agricultural implement
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such animals and the vehicle
the coachman riding his team
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dialect a flock, herd, or brood
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obsolete ancestry
verb
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to make or cause to make a team
he teamed George with Robert
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(tr) to drag or transport in or by a team
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(intr) to drive a team
Grammar
See collective noun.
Usage
What does team mean? A team is a group of people who work together in a joint action, as in Our Academic Decathlon team was made up of some of the smartest kids in our school. A team is also a group of people on one side of a contest or game, such as a soccer team or a trivia team. A team is also two or more draft animals, such as horses, harnessed together to pull something, like a plow or a cart. To team up is to form a group to work together, as in Miles and Lex teamed up to study for the big science test next month. Example: My team is working hard on these software solutions for streaming platforms.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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teamsimple
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teamssimple
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have teamedperfect
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has teamedperfect
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am teamingprogressive
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are teamingprogressive
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is teamingprogressive
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have been teamingperfect progressive
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has been teamingperfect progressive
Past
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teamedsimple
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had teamedperfect
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was teamingprogressive
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were teamingprogressive
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had been teamingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of team
First recorded before 900; Middle English teme (noun), Old English tēam “child-bearing, brood, offspring, set of draft beasts”; cognate with Dutch toom “bridle, reins,” German Zaum, Old Norse taumr
Explanation
If you're part of a frisbee team, you're part of a group of people who cooperate to throw a plastic disc around. It's neat. Two or more of people working together on a single task can be called a team, whether that's an informal team or a professional one. The two horses that pull your carriage are a team, and the guys you play soccer with on Saturday mornings are also a team. Team can also be a verb, meaning "to join forces." If you want to beautify your town, team up with local people to paint a mural for the community.
Vocabulary lists containing team
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:
Donald, 35, ended a two-year retirement when he returned to the team a few weeks ago.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 21, 2026
He left the team in 2024 amid contract drama for rival Philadelphia, where he rushed for a career-high 2,005 yards and won a Super Bowl in his first season.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 21, 2026
The studies varied in quality, but the team assessed the risk of bias and the certainty of the evidence using established research methods.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 21, 2026
The team noted that the primary drivers of this trend are expected to be accelerating gross domestic product growth and the transition from investment into artificial intelligence to a gradual boost from AI productivity.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 21, 2026
At one point it became so bad that the team stopped and looked back at me in surprise.
From "Woodsong" by Gary Paulsen
Their next six are against the Bills, Seahawks, Broncos, Chiefs, Rams and Texans—a group made up of teams that reached the playoffs in 2025, plus another that happens to be quarterbacked by Patrick Mahomes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 21, 2026
"The type of research that FQxI is encouraging brings teams together across generations, across boundaries, across disciplines," says Curceanu.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 21, 2026
Last week, Wrexham's owners aimed a dig at Southampton by referencing the scandal in a social media advert before the two teams met.
From BBC ● Sep. 21, 2026
A look at the top 25 high school football teams in the Southland after Week 4:
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 20, 2026
"When we leave Nikolai we will go a little faster than before. We will pass some teams this time."
From "Black Star, Bright Dawn" by Scott O'Dell
The company teamed up with celebrities including Kylie Jenner to advertise the eyewear.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2026
The authority has teamed up with Bloomberg Philanthropies to set up a separate pot for 15 to 24-year-olds, the Youth Climate Action Fund, which offers grants of up to £2,500.
From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2026
Reuters had reported in July that the consortium had teamed up and come up with an acquisition offer of $60.50 a share, which would have valued PayPal at more than $53 billion.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 28, 2026
Moderna and Merck teamed up in 2016 to jointly develop personalized mRNA cancer vaccines and expanded that partnership over time.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026
Later that year, Marina teamed up with another daring and experienced female pilot, Valentina Grizodubova.
From "A Thousand Sisters" by Elizabeth Wein
This is the backdrop to the promise of an "alliance of the future" between Canada and the EU, and the idea of "teaming up" with the UK too.
From BBC ● Sep. 21, 2026
The chip maker and online retailer are teaming up to build data-center infrastructure, including chips and optical networking products.
From Barron's ● Sep. 8, 2026
In these situations, two ships are essentially teaming up to move crude out of the Persian Gulf.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 31, 2026
“That remains the secret sauce — the magic — when it comes to making our communities more safe. Working together, collaborating, sharing intel and resources and teaming up,” he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026
And he's so surly, it's hard to imagine anyone teaming up with him.
From "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins
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.
