tea

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I didn't think of it until tea-time, and then--well, the tea was there I once read a story where a man laughed a low, mirthless laugh.

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Definitions (145)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (11)

  1. noun An eastern Asian evergreen shrub or small tree (Camellia sinensis) having fragrant, nodding, cup-shaped white flowers and glossy leaves.
  2. noun The young, dried leaves of this plant, prepared by various processes and used to make a hot beverage.
  3. noun An aromatic, slightly bitter beverage made by steeping tea leaves in boiling water.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (127)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (2)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (5)

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Examples (50)

  • They have women members, so the tea was a good one. —  ADDERS ON THE HEATH
  • She puts on what she calls a tea-gown, and a white China crepe shawl instead of the grey one, and Beecher does her hair with little curls at the side. —  The Chinese Shawl - Patricia Wentworth - Miss Silver 05
  • How can I go to her and tell her, “Your tea is here, and Miss Cara is dead”? —  The Benevent Treasure - Patricia Wentworth - Miss Silver 26: 1953
  • Connie Donsbach, a third-grade teacher and proud mom of fourth-grade author Lindsi Donsbach, said the tea is a delightful opportunity for the students to develop their skills. —  The Gazette-Enterprise: News
  • Authentic Green Tea tea is all natural, gluten free, and does contain caffeine. —  Epinions Recent Content for Home
 

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This word has been looked up 181 times.

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Etymologies (3)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Probably Dutch thee, from Malay teh, from Chinese (Amoy) te (equivalent to Chinese (Mandarin) chá).

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. First used in English about the middle of the 17th century, in two forms: (a) tea, thea, tay, tey, tee (at first pronounced tā, riming with obey (Pope, 1711), pay (Gay, 1720), in accordance with the spelling, later tē, 1745, etc.); = French thé = Spanish te, formerly tea = Italian = D. G. thee = Swedish Danish te = New Greek τέι (New Latin thea), prob., through Malay te, teh, from Chinese (Fuhkien dial.) te (pron. tā); (b) cha, tcha, chaa, chia, cia = Portuguese cha = Spanish (especially American Spanish) cha = Italian cià = New Greek τσάι = Russian chaǐ = Turkish chay = Arabic tshāi, shāi = Persian Hindustani chā = Japanese cha, from Chinese ch'a, ts'a, tea.
  2. from tea, n.
 

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/ti/
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