teapot

American  

[tee-pot] / ˈtiˌpɒt /

noun

teapots plural

1. a container with a lid, spout, and handle, in which tea is made and from which it is poured.

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teapot British  

/ ˈtiːˌpɒt /

noun

1. a container with a lid, spout, and handle, in which tea is made and from which it is served

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teapot Idioms  

1. see tempest in a teapot.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• teapots
  plural

Etymology

Origin of teapot

First recorded in 1610–20; tea + pot ¹

Explanation

When you were little, you might have learned a ditty about a teapot: "I'm a little teapot, short and stout / Here is my handle, here is my spout..." As its name suggests, a teapot is a vessel in which you brew tea. "Tip me over and pour me out!" To make tea, put loose tea or tea bags in a teapot and fill it with very hot water. After the tea steeps, you can pour it into cups. The very first teapots were made in China, and historians believe that tea was drunk directly from the spout, rather than being poured into a cup for drinking. These earliest teapots were made of metal. In the 17th century, porcelain teapots became more common.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

teapot teapots

Look carefully and see the reflection in the £220 mirrored stainless-steel teapot.

From BBC ● Jun. 23, 2026

A number of items listed on the charge sheet including Le Creuset and Joseph Joseph kitchen implements, an Alessi teapot and various Molton Brown toiletries were found inside the vehicle.

From BBC ● Jun. 23, 2026

It is one of more than 100 teapot refiners that are critical tools for China to work around U.S. sanctions.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 5, 2026

For China, the more than 100 teapot refiners are a critical tool for working around U.S. sanctions.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 2, 2026

There is another possible precedent: moralizing portraits, the descendants of pictures of St. Jerome, that show their subjects holding or pointing to skulls, much as Revere has the teapot in his hand.

From "History of Art, Volume 1" by H.W. Janson

Instead, Iranian sellers, Chinese teapots and middlemen go to elaborate lengths to hide their activity, according to U.S. sanctions notifications and indictments.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 2, 2026

The teapots are now at the forefront of one of China’s most crucial energy relationships.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 2, 2026

They turned to smaller Chinese institutions that, like the teapots, had less to lose than China’s biggest banks if they were targeted by the U.S.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 7, 2026

Iran isn’t the only option for the teapots, however.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 26, 2026

She looked at the boy with her head tipped sidewise as Johnny had seen other ladies look at silver teapots before they bought.

From "Johnny Tremain" by Esther Hoskins Forbes