teach
verb (used with object)
to impart knowledge of or skill in; give instruction in.
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teach
1 American
[teech]
/ titʃ /
verb (used with object)
-
teaches,
present (3rd person singular)
-
taught,
past participle, past
-
teaching
present participle
-
to impart knowledge of or skill in; give instruction in.
She teaches mathematics.
- Synonyms:
- coach
-
to impart knowledge or skill to; give instruction to.
He teaches a large class.
- Synonyms:
- coach, indoctrinate, school, drill, discipline, enlighten, inform
verb (used without object)
-
teaches,
present (3rd person singular)
-
taught,
past participle, past
-
teaching
present participle
noun
-
teaches
plural
Teach
2
American
[teech]
/ titʃ /
noun
teach
1
British
/ tiːtʃ /
verb
-
to help to learn; tell or show (how)
to teach someone to paint
to teach someone how to paint
-
to give instruction or lessons in (a subject) to (a person or animal)
to teach French
to teach children
she teaches
-
(tr; may take a clause as object or an infinitive) to cause to learn or understand
experience taught him that he could not be a journalist
-
Also: teach someone a lesson. informal to cause (someone) to suffer the unpleasant consequences of some action or behaviour
Teach
2
British
/ tiːtʃ /
noun
Synonym Usage
Teach, instruct, tutor, train, educate share the meaning of imparting information, understanding, or skill. Teach is the broadest and most general of these terms and can refer to almost any practice that causes others to develop skill or knowledge: to teach children to write; to teach marksmanship to soldiers; to teach tricks to a dog. Instruct almost always implies a systematic, structured method of teaching: to instruct paramedics in techniques of cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Tutor refers to the giving of usually private instruction or coaching in a particular subject or skill: to tutor a child in ( a foreign language, algebra, history, or the like ). Train lays stress on the development of desired behaviors through practice, discipline, or the use of rewards or punishments: to train a child to be polite; to train recruits in military skills; to train a dog to heel. Educate, with a root sense of “to lead forth from,” refers to the imparting of a specific body of knowledge, especially one that equips a person to practice a profession: to educate a person for a high school diploma; to educate someone for the law.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
teachsimple
-
teachessimple
-
have taughtperfect
-
has taughtperfect
-
am teachingprogressive
-
are teachingprogressive
-
is teachingprogressive
-
have been teachingperfect progressive
-
has been teachingperfect progressive
Past
-
taughtsimple
-
had taughtperfect
-
was teachingprogressive
-
were teachingprogressive
-
had been teachingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of teach
First recorded before 900; Middle English techen, Old English tǣcan; akin to token
Explanation
To teach is to transfer ideas or skills to another person. As an old saying goes, "Give someone a fish, they eat for a day, teach someone to fish and they eat for a lifetime." I hope they like seafood. The Old English word tǣcan, which became the Middle English techen, meant "to show or point out." But the Old English also had another word for teach — læran — which eventually became the modern "learn," with the current meaning of receiving knowledge rather than giving it. If someone tries to "teach you a lesson," he or she tries to punish you for something you've done in order that you won't do it again.
Vocabulary lists containing teach
Mother's Day Words: What Mothers Do
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Part 1 Vocabulary (Unit 3)
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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.
See Examples For:
Two A-level exam boards have since announced reviews of how they teach the inductive effect and directly cited the research as part of the reason for doing so.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 14, 2026
“I was teaching a lot of people to surf, mostly women who didn’t want a straight man to teach them how to surf because it feels vulnerable enough,” says Walsh.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 2026
"Ten years ago, I thought student interest was ebbing and I would need to find something else to teach about," he said.
From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026
Anthropic employs one to teach Claude a sense of morality.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026
“Well, Edem did teach me deep diving, but that was a long time ago!”
From "Flying Through Water" by Mamle Wolo
Mr. Einhorn is founder and a partner in Capital Midwest Fund and author of “Climate Change: What They Rarely Teach in College.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 30, 2026
The PAC’s treasurer is Alex Clark, who met Talarico during their time teaching in San Antonio through Teach for America.
From Salon ● Jun. 17, 2026
Teach slavery and Reconstruction with the same seriousness as the Constitution.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 4, 2026
The scheme would be similar to Teach First, a charity which trains graduates as teachers and places them in schools.
From BBC ● Dec. 3, 2025
Teach them to obey her and maybe they’ll obey all the masters to come and they will survive.
From "The Underground Railroad: A Novel" by Colson Whitehead
Malxux Gaspar, who teaches a Mayan culture class at Esperanza, also watched the construction from her classroom window.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 13, 2026
Professor David Schanzer, who teaches "9/11 & Its Aftermath" at Duke University, wrote this week in a campus magazine commentary that there's still strong interest generations later.
From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026
In particular, it has increased the resources devoted to reinforcement learning, a step later in the training process that teaches models to perform skills through trial and error, the people said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026
Your stories are a great reminder of what sports teaches high school students about life.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 29, 2026
No one teaches them, they do it instinctively.
From "Code Name Verity" by Elizabeth Wein
"If a foundational concept is taught inaccurately, misunderstandings can carry into more advanced science and research," adds Dr. Edwin Johnson, Lecturer at the University of Newcastle, Australia, who co-authored the paper.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 14, 2026
A chemistry concept taught to generations of students may need to be explained very differently, according to an international team of researchers who say a long-accepted textbook description does not match modern evidence.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 14, 2026
Unlike Maresca's more specific solutions, which outline where and when certain actions should be taken, it is often United's players who decide when and where to use what they've been taught.
From BBC ● Sep. 13, 2026
Since he was a boy, Trent Mosley was taught to live by the Five Ps: Proper preparation prevents poor performance.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026
I could remember every trick my grandpa had taught me about trapping, but I couldn’t think of a thing that would catch a monkey.
From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls
“I was teaching a lot of people to surf, mostly women who didn’t want a straight man to teach them how to surf because it feels vulnerable enough,” says Walsh.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 2026
After retiring at age 61 from his job in emergency medicine, Mike Peterson took on some teaching work, including teaching medical residents personal-finance skills.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026
Christian Concern said Randall's sermon reflected the Church of England's teaching on marriage, but it triggered complaints from some pupils, parents and staff members, who said it nearly left them in tears.
From BBC ● Sep. 10, 2026
And he’s been teaching guitar at Bearing Song ever since owner Sarah C. Hanson-Hofstetter hired him to fix a door.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026
Calista was teaching me a new card game called Spit, where you had to slap your cards down really fast.
From Absolutely Almost by Lisa Graff
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.
