tea

noun

ˈtē 

plural teas

1

a

: a widely cultivated shrub (Camellia sinensis of the family Theaceae, the tea family) native to China, northern India, and southeastern Asia and having glossy green leaves and fragrant white flowers

b

: the leaves, leaf buds, and internodes of the tea plant prepared for use in beverages usually by immediate curing by heat or by such curing following a period of fermentation

Note: Tea may be classified according to its method of manufacture (see black tea, green tea, oolong, white tea) or according to the leaf size of the plant it is produced from (see orange pekoe, pekoe, souchong).

2

: an aromatic beverage prepared from tea leaves by soaking them in boiling water

3

a

: any of various plants used like tea

also : a drink prepared by soaking their parts (such as leaves or roots) and used medicinally or as a beverage

mint tea

an herbal tea

b

: tea rose

4

a

: refreshments usually including tea with sandwiches, crackers, or cookies served in late afternoon

b

: a reception, snack, or meal at which tea is served

5

slang : marijuana

6

the tea slang : private or inside information especially of a personal nature

We know there've been breakups, social media battles and maybe even a new romance since the show dropped in February, and it's about time we got the tea on the divorces and everything that's happened since.

—Bethany Barton

—usually used in the phrase spill the tea

A former bridesmaid is spilling the tea after her bridezilla now-ex-friend … set her up to look like she stole the show at the wedding.

—Adriana Diaz

He also spilled the tea on why Ewan McGregor is the funniest actor on set and why out of all the characters in the Star Wars universe, Yoda would be his ideal dinner date.

—Neil Shaw

tealike

ˈtē-ˌlīk 

adjective

Illustration of tea

• tea 1a

Examples of tea in a Sentence

Let's meet for tea tomorrow.

That shop does a great afternoon tea.

Recent Examples on the Web

High-end touches include green-veined marble basins; minibars stuffed with Japanese treats (yuzu soda, rice crackers, and yokan jelly candy, plus free teas and coffee); and faux-fur throws, a signature of Edition’s co-founder — and Studio 54 creator — Ian Schrager. —Nicole Trilivas, Travel + Leisure, 7 Apr. 2024

Increase your consumption of herbal teas like spearmint, chamomile, and raspberry leaf tea. —Dominique Fluker, Essence, 4 Apr. 2024

This includes the selection, preparation, and serving of wine, cocktails, spirits, coffee, tea, beer or any other beverage with outstanding hospitality and service that help inform and enhance a customer’s appreciation of the beverage(s). —Brock Keeling, Orange County Register, 3 Apr. 2024

Backgammon cafés, where old men have been drinking tea and talking politics for centuries, buzzed with crypto gossip. —Leif Wenar, WIRED, 2 Apr. 2024

Often what passes for tea at shops or restaurants is little more than a cup of hot water and a tea bag. —Becky Krystal, Washington Post, 1 Apr. 2024

At a playgroup one day, a woman, who Pettitt said seemed to have light emanating from her body, approached her and asked her to tea. —Sophie Elmhirst, The New Yorker, 29 Mar. 2024

This three-burner propane stove from Goplus can boil water faster than one shopper’s indoor stovetop and can comfortably accommodate two pans and a tea kettle, according to another reviewer. —Ali Faccenda, Travel + Leisure, 27 Mar. 2024

Milk Chocolate Spring Flowers Easter Egg, £38.50, Bettys (350 grams) The Yorkshire tea room and patisserie has proffered high-end sweets for more than 100 years. —Helen Chandler-Wilde, Fortune Europe, 22 Mar. 2024

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Chinese (Xiamen) dé

Note: The use of the word tea to mean "inside information" presumably plays on an association of tea drinking with the exchange of gossip. Early use in this sense also seems to allude to tea leaves as a means to tell fortunes: "Over the past two weeks I've promised to spill the tea leaves about the Capital Cuppa competition in which readers of this newspaper play a crucial role" (ad in the Marylebone Mercury and other London newspapers, May 7, 1987); "Former White House chief of staff Donald Regan is going to spill the tea leaves about the Reagans' so-called superstitions in his book, due out in a couple of weeks" (Palm Beach Post, May 5, 1988, p. 49). Tea meaning "gossip" (without spilling or leaves) is an integral part of the lexicon of gay Harlem, documented by William Hawkeswood in One of the Children: Gay Black Men in Harlem (University of California Press, 1996; the author completed the text before his death in 1992). It has been suggested that the origin of tea as "gossip" might lie not in the literal meaning, but rather its adaptation as a spelled form of the letter T. The drag queen who went by the name The Lady Chablis used "my T" to refer to—as she put it in one source—"my thing, my business, what's goin' on in my life" and in another "my T, my Truth." The Lady Chablis is quoted extensively in John Berendt's "non-fiction novel" Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (New York, 1994), and spoke for herself in her autobiography Hiding My Candy: The Autobiography of the Grand Empress of Savannah (New York, 1996). As she explained in "The Lady Chablis Lexicon" at the end of the autobiography, "to know my T, to tell my T" is equivalent to "knowing where my candy's hidden; knowing that I even have candy," i.e., knowing that she is transgender and was born with male sex organs. The lexicon also lists "pour the tea," glossed as to "Tell The Doll the truth, or dish the dirt!", but the fact that she treated this as a distinct usage would lead one to believe that tea in this sense is not identical with her own use of T. If Chablis's T is actually dependent on tea, it is, in any case, after-the-fact word play on an existing meaning and cannot be claimed as the origin of the "gossip" sense.

First Known Use

circa 1655, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing tea

• high tea
• cambric tea
• black tea
• Mormon tea
• green tea
• cup of tea
• cream tea
• hybrid tea rose
• not for all the tea in China
• red bush tea
• Labrador tea
• Oswego tea
• New Jersey tea
• tea cloth
• tea caddy
• tea cart
• tea cake
• tea ball
• tea bag
• tea break
• someone's cup of tea
• tea and sympathy
• red tea
• tea garden
• tea dance
• tea service
• tea gown
• tea table
• tea shop
• tea set
• tea towel
• tea tray
• white tea
• tea wagon
• tea tree
• tea rose
• tea party
• rooibos tea

Kids Definition

tea

noun

ˈtē 

1

a

: a shrub related to the camellias that has fragrant white flowers and is grown mainly in China, Japan, India, and Sri Lanka

b

: the leaves and leaf buds of the tea prepared for use in beverages

c

: a beverage prepared from tea by soaking the prepared leaves and buds in boiling water

2

: a drink or medicine made by soaking parts (as leaves or dried roots) of plants other than the tea shrub

ginger tea

3

a

: a late afternoon serving of tea and a light meal

b

: a party, snack, or meal at which tea is served

Medical Definition

tea

1 of 2 noun

ˈtē 

1

a

: a shrub (Camellia sinensis of the family Theaceae, the tea family) cultivated especially in China, Japan, and the East Indies

b

: the prepared and cured leaves, leaf buds, and internodes of the tea plant

2

: a mildly stimulating aromatic beverage prepared from tea leaves by infusion with boiling water

3

: any of various plants resembling tea in properties

also : an infusion of their leaves used medicinally or as a beverage

TEA

2 of 2 abbreviation

tetraethylammonium