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• tee
  tee

  noun

  the letter T or t.
• TEE
  TEE

  abbreviation

  Trans-Europe Express.

tee

¹ American  

[tee] / ti /

noun

1. the letter T or t.

2. something shaped like a T , as a three-way joint used in fitting pipes together.

3. T-bar.

4. T-shirt.

5. the mark aimed at in various games, as curling.

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adjective

1. having a crosspiece at the top; shaped like a T .

idioms

1. to a tee. T.

tee ² American  

[tee] / ti /

noun

1. Golf.

   1. Also called teeing ground.  the starting place, usually a hard mound of earth, at the beginning of play for each hole.

   2. a small wooden, plastic, metal, or rubber peg from which the ball is driven, as in teeing off.

2. Football. a device on which the ball may be placed to raise it off the ground preparatory to kicking.

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verb (used with object)

tees, present (3rd person singular) teed, past participle, past teeing present participle

1. Golf. to place (the ball) on a tee.

verb phrase

1. tee off

   1. Golf. to strike the ball from a tee.

   2. Slang. to reprimand severely; scold.

      He teed off on his son for wrecking the car.

   3. Informal. to begin.

      They teed off the program with a medley of songs.

   4. Baseball, Softball. to make many runs and hits, especially extra-base hits.

      teeing off for six runs on eight hits, including three doubles and a home run.

   5. Baseball, Softball. to hit (a pitched ball) hard and far.

      He teed off on a fastball and drove it into the bleachers.

   6. Boxing. to strike with a powerful blow, especially to the head.

      He teed off on his opponent with an overhand right.

   7. Slang. to make angry, irritated, or disgusted.

      She was teed off because her dinner guests were late.

TEE ³ American  

Or T-E-E

abbreviation

1. Trans-Europe Express.

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tee ¹ British  

/ tiː /

noun

1. a pipe fitting in the form of a letter T, used to join three pipes

2. a metal section with a cross section in the form of a letter T, such as a rolled-steel joist

3. any part or component shaped like a T

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tee ² British  

/ tiː /

noun

1. Also called: teeing ground.  an area, often slightly elevated, from which the first stroke of a hole is made

2. a support for a golf ball, usually a small wooden or plastic peg, used when teeing off or in long grass, etc

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verb

1. to position (the ball) ready for striking, on or as if on a tee

tee ³ British  

/ tiː /

noun

1. a mark used as a target in certain games such as curling and quoits

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Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

• teeing
  present
• teed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• tee
  simple
• tees
  simple
• have teed
  perfect
• has teed
  perfect
• am teeing
  progressive
• are teeing
  progressive
• is teeing
  progressive
• have been teeing
  perfect progressive
• has been teeing
  perfect progressive

Past

• teed
  simple
• had teed
  perfect
• was teeing
  progressive
• were teeing
  progressive
• had been teeing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will tee
  simple
• will have teed
  perfect
• will be teeing
  progressive
• will have been teeing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of tee¹

First recorded in 1600–10

Origin of tee²

First recorded in 1665–75; origin uncertain

Explanation

In golf, a tee is the small wooden support off of which you hit a golf ball. The word tee is also used more generally for the area of a golf course where you begin a match. Other sports that use a tee include tee ball, American football, and rugby—each of these tees is significantly larger than a golf tee. As a verb, tee means "hit off of a tee," and in golf you "tee off" when play begins. Besides its Scottish origin, not much is known about where this word comes from. Informally, when you're teed off at someone, you're really angry.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

tee TEE tees teed teeing

DeChambeau's angry reaction, delaying signing his card and therefore denying the rest of the field knowledge of their Saturday tee times was not a good look.

From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026

The 508-yard, par-4 had played as the most difficult hole of the tournament, and Fox faced a long wait on the tee box as he sat tied with Young.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026

When he did swing with more conviction - from the tee of the recently-constructed par-three 15th - it set up a birdie putt which he holed in front of the biggest gallery on the course.

From BBC ● Jul. 16, 2026

It was anything but a wire-to-wire win for Korda, who struggled on the tee and limped through the opening round at two over par.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 8, 2026

She plucked it off the tee and danced with it, spinning and hugging it and hoisting it into the air.

From "Stargirl" by Jerry Spinelli

Take a moment to slow down, breathe deep and drink a cup of tea at Jäger TEE, a small family-owned tea shop steps away from the opera.

From Salon ● Nov. 26, 2022

But he found that physiologists had developed a better way to measure TEE over a day: the doubly labeled water method, which measures TEE without asking a subject to breathe into a hood all day.

From Science Magazine ● Feb. 16, 2022

OFF THE TEE I have one idiosyncrasy that helps my driving accuracy.

From Golf Digest ● Apr. 7, 2018

TEE TIMES: Tiger Woods will open Thursday at 12:07 p.m. on the 10th tee in a group with Patrick Reed and Jordan Spieth.

From Washington Times ● Jan. 28, 2015

—In answer to the inquiry of TEE BEE, I beg to refer him to vol. iii.

From Notes and Queries, Number 84, June 7, 1851 A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Geneologists, etc. by Various

A much-improved performance against Wales now tees up their final game of this block against Steve Borthwick's England.

From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026

“Blow Out” tees up an astonishing setup and payoff, yet does so with a graceful simplicity that makes returning to the film edifying no matter how many times you’ve seen it.

From Salon ● Jul. 4, 2026

Twentysomethings clad in Deftones and Pikachu tees, Dodgers caps, and beaded bracelets joined the procession, snaking from the dance floor through the bar area and back down again.

From Slate ● Jun. 25, 2026

He began screen printing messages on basic tees and hoodies, including phrases like “give gratitude” or “ You fight with your demons, I dance with mine.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 5, 2026

He’s such the cool guy with his pegged jeans and black low-tops, his effortlessly beat-up punk-rock tees and his subtle tattoos.

From "If I Stay" by Gayle Forman

The French response was admirable and they edged back in front when replacement Hastoy ran through after being teed up by Attissogbe.

From BBC ● Jul. 4, 2026

Mr. Trump has also teed up new tariffs under Section 301 against specific countries for allegedly unfair trade practices, which Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says will soon be unveiled.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 8, 2026

This weaseling is probably the same reason that the court teed up Section 2’s constitutionality in an obscure order issued late on a Friday afternoon in August last year.

From Slate ● Apr. 30, 2026

A year after finally completing golf’s grand slam, Rory McIlroy was pleased to know he was still feeling a bit nervous as he teed off at the Masters.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 10, 2026

I’ll figure out what needs to be done to make Pops’s dream come true so that when Nate’s ready, everything will be all teed up for him.

From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam

Such is his quality, he went top of the World Cup assists leaderboard by teeing up Gabriel Martinelli's late winner against Japan.

From BBC ● Jun. 30, 2026

A golfer teeing off at the organization’s course in Scotland would have to pay about $740.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 28, 2026

That it was he who cracked the code against Diamondbacks righty Zac Gallen in the fifth inning, teeing off on a three-run, 400-foot home run to left-center field.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 27, 2026

The path, in short, is to fix airport lines now by teeing up what later could be the biggest legislative fight of the year.

From Slate ● Mar. 24, 2026

Strike three took dead aim at the kid’s knees, and here was the kid, swooping back and at the same time swatting at the ball like a golfer teeing off.

From "Maniac Magee" by Jerry Spinelli