Teem

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Teem

Postby Dr. Goodword » Tue Jul 12, 2022 5:20 pm

• teem •


Pronunciation: teem • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Verb, intransitive

Meaning: 1. To swarm, abound, throng, be vibrantly full. 2. (Regional, Northern UK) To pour, to empty, to dump; rain cats and dogs. 3. (Obsolete) Be pregnant, expectant.

Notes: The spelling of today's verb should not be confused with the noun team. Teemer is a dialectal term referring to someone who pours something. Teemful is a regional term, used in Jamaica, meaning "full to the brim".

In Play: The form of this word most prevalent is teeming: "Buskers look for streets, parks, squares, even subway stations that are teeming with people." It is still used in the UK to refer to a downpour: "Higglesworth defied the teeming rain and ploughed on to the 18th hole."

Word History: Although teem and team are spelled differently today, they share the same source via its Old English meanings "to birth, propagate" and "family, brood". The O-variant of PIE deuk-/douk- "to draw, drag, pull" ended up in Old Norse (Viking) as tomr "empty", which became tom in Swedish and tómur in Icelandic. It was also the origin of Latin duco "I lead, guide, conduct" and dux, ducis "leader", ultimate source of English duke, Albanian nduk "pluck, pull out", Welsh dygyd "to bring", Irish tugaim "I bring", and Norwegian toga "to drag, wear". Teem came from the E-variant, along with German ziehen "drag, pull".
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David Myer
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Re: Teem

Postby David Myer » Wed Jul 13, 2022 6:55 am

Is 'Teeming with rain' not a widely used expression in North America? Certainly well used in UK as is explained, and also well used in Australia (although that may be because of the British connection).

bbeeton
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Re: Teem

Postby bbeeton » Wed Jul 13, 2022 11:22 am

"Teeming rain" (not "teeming with rain") was an expression my mother used. I grew up in Baltimore, Maryland, which is certainly in the U.S. But of course that was a long time ago.

LukeJavan8
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Re: Teem

Postby LukeJavan8 » Wed Jul 13, 2022 12:45 pm

Never heard the term "teeming with rain" until now.
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Slava
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Re: Teem

Postby Slava » Wed Jul 13, 2022 4:19 pm

I was thinking of having used it to refer to rain forests, but then had second thoughts. That was about the forests teeming with life, not rain.
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