teeming
1 Americanadjective
-
abounding or swarming with something, as with people.
We elbowed our way through the teeming station.
-
prolific or fertile.
adjective
Other Word Forms
- teemingly adverb
- teemingness noun
Etymology
Origin of teeming1
First recorded in 1525–35; teem 1 + -ing 2
Origin of teeming2
Explanation
Teeming means completely full, especially with living things. If your grandmother's apartment is teeming with cats, she sure has a lot of them. Any time something (or someplace) is filled with life, it's teeming with it. A gorgeous purple garden in the south of France might be teeming with lavender plants, and you might describe the crowded state fair grounds as teeming with people. The Old English root teman means to give birth to, and this used to be a common meaning of teeming — being fertile or pregnant, or producing young.
Vocabulary lists containing teeming
The Vernal Vocabulary of Spring
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Unit 1: Telling Details
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The Alchemist
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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.
“Hag” is a promising showcase for all involved, teeming with great ideas, splashy kills, loud laughs and a just-dreamlike-enough atmosphere to push my affection beyond irony.
From Salon • Apr. 5, 2026
He previously lived for years in San Diego County, where he ran along waterways teeming with birds among reeds, willows and sycamores.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 1, 2026
Concert halls are packed, the famed Tretyakov Gallery is teeming even on a midweek afternoon.
From Barron's • Feb. 18, 2026
At 9 a.m. on a workday, this area of the Financial District is positively teeming with potential litigants.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 15, 2026
He leaned to the right, trying to see round the canopy, trying to keep the brim of his sou’wester out of his eyes, trying to make out anything in the teeming murk.
From "The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage" by Philip Pullman
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.
