tea

noun

1. (uncountable)The tea plant (Camellia sinensis); (countable) a variety of this plant.

   “Darjeeling tea is grown in India.”

2. (uncountable)The dried leaves or buds of the tea plant; (countable) a variety of such leaves.

   “Go to the supermarket and buy some Darjeeling tea.”

   “Not for all the tea in China.”

3. (uncountable)The drink made by infusing these dried leaves or buds in hot water.

   “Would you like some tea?”

   “She is drinking her tea right now.”

   “Mother[…]considered that the exclusiveness of Peter's circle was due not to its distinction, but to the fact that it was an inner Babylon of prodigality and whoredom, from which every Kensingtonian held aloof, except on the conventional tip-and-run excursions in pursuit of shopping, tea and theatres.”

4. (Southern-US, countable, uncountable)Specifically sweet tea, an iced tea supersaturated with sugar.
5. (countable, uncountable)Any drink which is similar to Camellia sinensis tea in some way

   “Mushroom Tea / 8 cups water / 1 cup dried reishi mushroom pieces [...] 1. Start by making Reishi Mushroom Tea: Bring water to a boil in a medium saucepan. 2. Add the reishi mushroom pieces[…]”

6. (uncountable)Any drink which is similar to Camellia sinensis tea in some way:

   “camomile tea; mint tea”

   “Curcuma tea relieves colds[…]”

7. (in-compounds, uncountable)Any drink which is similar to Camellia sinensis tea in some way:

   “beef tea”

8. (Commonwealth, Northern-US, countable)A cup of any of these drinks, often with milk, sugar, lemon, or tapioca pearls.

   “We'd like one tea and one coffee, please.”

9. (Southern-US, countable, uncountable)A glass of these drinks.
10. (UK, uncountable)A light midafternoon meal, typically but not necessarily including tea.

    “I won't make it to the breakfast event, but I'll see you at the tea.”

    “But the gorge of the Rush was not at all a nice place for travelling either. I mean, it was not a nice place for people in a hurry. For an afternoon's ramble ending in a picnic tea it would have been delightful.”

    “Tea was a very special institution, revolving as it did around the ceremony and worship of Toast. In a place [public schools] where alcohol, tobacco and drugs were forbidden, it was essential that something should take their place as a powerful and public totem of virility and cool. Toast, for reasons lost in time, was the substance chosen.”

11. (Commonwealth, Ireland, uncountable)Synonym of supper, the main evening meal, whether or not it includes tea.

    “The family were sitting round the table, eating their tea.”

    “Jacki set about making the tea—bacon grills with chips and bread and butter.”

12. (countable, uncountable)The break in play between the second and third sessions.

    “Australia were 490 for 7 at tea on the second day.”

    “As recently as the mid-80s the players would be given a bottle of beer at lunchtime at some county grounds, and "tea" still meant a cup of tea into the 90s.”

13. (countable, dated, slang, uncountable)Synonym of marijuana.

    “So they were evidence. Evidence of what? That a man occasionally smoked a stick of tea, a man who looked as if any touch of the exotic would appeal to him. On the other hand lots of tough guys smoked marijuana […].”

    “Tea puts a musician in a real masterly sphere, and that's why so many jazzmen have used it.”

    “Here in Texas possession of tea is a felony calling for 2 years.”

    “Jive music and tea were the two most important components of the hipster's life.”

    “Seeing that we didn’t know anything about ourselves, he whipped out three sticks of tea and said to go ahead, supper’d be ready soon.”

14. (countable, slang, uncountable)Information, especially gossip.

    “Spill the tea on that drama, hon.”

    “Now I've told you that I've taken LSD, and you think I'm gonna leap through a window or something like that. And you know why that is, that's because of Art Linkletter's daughter.... But let me give you the tea on her, see, she took LSD, realized she was Art Linkletter's daughter, and threw herself out of the window!”

    “"What's the tea on you and China? Where she at Alicia? You should know where ya baby at."”

    “For those looking for tea on someone, one of the first places you should look is their Venmo account. ... Though most people have found out how to make all of their transactions private, preventing snooping eyes from seeing how many times they've gone out for brunch in the last month, JD Vance hasn't seemed to figure that out yet.”

15. A moment, a historical unit of time from China, about the amount of time needed to quickly drink a traditional cup of tea.
16. (Northern-Ireland, abbreviation, alt-of, countable, initialism)Initialism of training and employment agency.
17. (abbreviation, acronym, alt-of, uncountable)Acronym of triethylaluminium.
18. (abbreviation, alt-of, uncountable)Abbreviation of triethylamine.
19. (abbreviation, alt-of, uncountable)Abbreviation of triethanolamine.

verb

1. (intransitive)To drink tea.

   “We tea’d with May, and had to wait over an hour for a taxi!”

   “I dined yesterday at | three on mutton chops and 1/2 pint of E[ast] I [ndian] sherry, and then tead and muffined' at 8.”

   “We coffeed and tead and smoked a trench torch with Grand Master Browning, and cranked our Cadillac for another station.”

2. (intransitive)To take afternoon tea (a light meal).

   “The wind was high and the hills ditto, and both being against us we were late in reaching Hitchin (30 from Cambridge), so giving up the idea of reaching Oxford we toiled on through Luton, on to Dunstable (47), where we teaed moderately […]”

3. (transitive)To give tea to.

   “And they’ve got Professor Hummums with ’em, the great Everlasting Star of the Nineteenth Century, which he has breakfasted and dined and tea’d and supped here ever since yesterday.”

   “In half an hour they had all been tea’d and coffeed and refreshed by the nurses, and shortly after were all undressed and put to bed clean and comfortable, and in a droll state of grateful wonder;”

   “But one or two evil-disposed characters muttered they might be sure the lady had her own turn to serve, and they might be sure they wasn't "teaed and muffined and sandwiched for nothing!"”

   “This gentleman was presented by Colonel C. E. S. Wood, and was entertained here—wined, dined, tead, breakfasted, coffeed and luncheoned—and we bought his pictures.”

   “After I’d tea’d everyone and Oz had breakfasted them,[…]”

adj

1. (slang)Good-looking, sexy.
2. (US, abbreviation, acronym, alt-of, not-comparable)Acronym of taxed enough already.

name

1. A city in South Dakota.
2. (abbreviation, acronym, alt-of)Acronym of The Elm Architecture.
3. (abbreviation, acronym, alt-of)Acronym of Tiny Encryption Algorithm
4. (Texas, abbreviation, acronym, alt-of)Acronym of Texas Education Agency.

   “Hinojosa presented state budget data going back to 2016 that she said shows TEA has grown by about 50% over the last decade under Gov. Greg Abbott, while the percentage of students who pass the state’s assessment tests has declined.”