Jump To:

• 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.

---

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.

---

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.

---

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

---

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

---

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

---

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

Do I want to have to send out a little digital warrior to fight for me every time I want to book a golf tee time, lest there be none left?

From Slate ● Oct. 14, 2026

“Public golf courses belong to the public, and residents shouldn’t have to compete with brokers buying up tee times just to turn around and sell them at inflated prices,” he said in a statement Sunday.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 28, 2026

But though “Primetime” fails to be a deservedly introspective analysis of its subject matter, it does tee up fair questions about its own existence.

From Salon ● Sep. 26, 2026

No. If it was up to me and I had to make the decision, I’d wear a white tee and sweats.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 21, 2026

I get up, splash water on my face, and change into my favorite jeans and my mom’s old X-Files tee.

From "Internment" by Samira Ahmed

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

Costume designer Maya Edmond dresses Big Ant thematically: white tees when he’s trying to be good, black duds when his demons are winning and comic book-y jailbird stripes during his pivotal teenage arrest.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026

Either this contains tees, $20 or an egg salad sandwich from the 90s.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026

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

Titid tees what I know, and he says, “Teacher Djo! Tell these boys what sound the letter D makes!”

From "Taste of Salt: A Story of Modern Haiti" by Frances Temple

After plowing over $5 billion into LIV since it teed off in 2022, the Saudis decided that the golf league was no longer a priority.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026

The controversy mounted on Saturday, when the course became nearly impossible by the time the final groups teed off.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 18, 2026

In the 76th minute, Messi completed his hat-trick, having been teed up by substitute Nico Gonzalez.

From BBC ● Jun. 17, 2026

But after Dylan Coghlan went off for interference, Sennecke teed up a shot from the top of the right circle for his fourth goal of the playoffs, putting the Ducks up 1-0.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 11, 2026

The Second Part of Rhetoric 89 That teed up what was to follow: the somewhat hangdog expression of national determination that was, a few days later, to lead to the formal declaration of war.

From "Words Like Loaded Pistols" by Sam Leith

Ioanna Papatheodorou struck the crossbar in the first half, before teeing up Kallisti Brouksair for their goal later on.

From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026

Gauff hit a trio of unreturned first serves - all just under the 120mph mark, teeing up three match points as Sonmez buckled on the first after a short rally.

From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2026

As of Thursday, two circuits have affirmed the government’s position and six opposed it, teeing up what experts call an inevitable Supreme Court challenge.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 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

The batters were teeing off as if it were the invasion of Normandy Beach.

From "Maniac Magee" by Jerry Spinelli

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---