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\ ˈrēm 
\
\Definition of ream
(Entry 1 of 2)
1 : a quantity of paper being 20 quires or variously 480, 500, or 516 sheets
2 : a great amount
—usually used in pluralreams of information
ream
verbreamed; reaming; reams
Definition of ream (Entry 2 of 2)
1a : to widen the opening of (a hole) : countersink
b(1) : to enlarge, shape, or smooth out (a hole) with a reamer
(2) : to enlarge the bore of (something, such as a gun) in this way
c : to remove by reaming
2a : to press out with a reamer
b : to press out the juice of (a fruit, such as an orange) with a reamer
4 : reprimand —often used with outreams out his players so severely— Alexander Wolff
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Synonyms for ream
Synonyms: Verb
- beat,
- bilk,
- bleed,
- cheat,
- chisel,
- chouse,
- con,
- cozen,
- defraud,
- diddle,
- do,
- do in,
- euchre,
- fiddle,
- fleece,
- flimflam,
- gaff,
- gyp,
- hose
- [slang],
- hustle,
- mulct,
- nobble
- [British slang],
- pluck,
- rip off,
- rook,
- screw,
- shake down,
- short,
- shortchange,
- skin,
- skunk,
- squeeze,
- stick,
- stiff,
- sting,
- sucker,
- swindle,
- thimblerig,
- victimize
Examples of ream in a Sentence
Verb
He got reamed in the press for his comments. reamed a whole new generation of suckers with a variation of the Ponzi scheme
Recent Examples on the Web: Noun World View collects reams of atmospheric data each flight, which the company is using to build what Hartman claims will be the most accurate model of stratospheric winds in existence.
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Daniel Oberhaus, Wired, "Giant Surveillance Balloons Are Lurking at the Edge of Space," 19 Dec. 2019 Instead, Democrats have fed the political dumpster fire with reams of damning testimony and evidence.
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Lorraine Ali, chicagotribune.com, "Commentary: Impeachment isn’t ‘Law & Order.’ It’s time to stop viewing it that way," 6 Dec. 2019 Or for its suis generis premise: an 18th-century lesbian love story set almost entirely within the windswept parameters of a remote seaside villa, with reams of meditative dialogue and almost no male roles to speak of.
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Leah Greenblatt, EW.com, "Portrait of a Lady on Fire," 6 Dec. 2019 On the other side, customers scrawl their own question or quote onto a giant ream of construction paper.
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Jackie Burrell, The Mercury News, "6 best new, eclectic Bay Area coffee houses," 8 June 2019 Staff must monitor the animals around the clock and review reams of computer data chronicling their brain waves.
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Jennifer Couzin-frankel, Science | AAAS, "As epilepsy drugs fail nearly one-third of patients, scientists seek root causes of seizures," 12 Dec. 2019 Fitz says that reps for Luke Combs and Kane Brown have reached out about taking part, and he has been asked to consider visiting Nashville to gather a ream of episodes in a short window.
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Tom Roland, Billboard, "No More Mr. Nice Guy? Country Radio Host Launches Interrogation-Like Interview Series," 12 Nov. 2019 Moore called a recess to review a four-hour video and reams of copies of articles and social media postings.
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Elizabeth Zavala, ExpressNews.com, "San Antonio man accused of setting blaze that killed firefighter wants trial moved from Bexar County," 30 Oct. 2019 Randhawa, a board member of the Rocky Mountain Chapter of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) and a Rockies writer for MLB.com, provided a slideshow and reams of statistics in support of Walker’s bid.
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Patrick Saunders, The Denver Post, "Saunders: One passionate man is determined to land Larry Walker in Hall of Fame," 26 Oct. 2019 Recent Examples on the Web: Verb But when you get reamed in a sketch or online or however, that s--t stings.
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Kayla Keegan, Good Housekeeping, "The Real Reason It Took Eddie Murphy So Long to Return to 'SNL' Has to Do With David Spade," 22 Dec. 2019 Drenched in dread, Wyeth’s story is told mainly by an anonymous narrator via 84 flashback scenes reamed with abrupt, enigmatic silences.
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J. Michael Lennon, Washington Post, "A new collection of Joan Didion’s work reminds us that she is her most memorable character," 7 Nov. 2019 During Pike’s first year as a starter, he was frequently reamed out on the sideline by Kelly for not making what Kelly thought was the correct read.
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Bill Koch, Cincinnati.com, "'Pike to Binns': An excerpt from author Bill Koch's latest book on UC Bearcats football," 11 Oct. 2019 Thus, the screw stays put but the extractor continues to turn, reaming out the hole in the process.
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Roy Berendsohn, Popular Mechanics, "How to Extract Those Pesky Stripped Screws," 8 Nov. 2018 Obviously, Saturday night was not our best performance and some coaches would ream you and dig into individuals, but that doesn’t help anyone.
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Julian Cardillo, Pro Soccer USA, "Former Orlando Pride coach Tom Sermanni hoping to invigorate New Zealand," 16 June 2019 One end of the Easy Out is a stubby, reaming-style drill bit.
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Roy Berendsohn, Popular Mechanics, "How to Extract Those Pesky Stripped Screws," 8 Nov. 2018 Those reaming seats are at all price points -- $60, $95, $155 and $435 - and will be released closer to the date of the show.
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Andrea Simakis, cleveland.com, "60,000 Hamilton tickets sell out in hours at Cleveland's Playhouse Square (photos)," 13 Apr. 2018 As this is happening, Veronica reams Archie for spilling the beans about Pop's.
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Christopher Rosa, Glamour, "'Riverdale' Season 2 Episode 15 Recap: Everyone Is Creepy, and Everyone Is Evil," 14 Mar. 2018
See MoreThese example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'ream.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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From the Editors at Merriam-Webster
Book Anatomy Words: Quire, Colophon,...
Book Anatomy Words: Quire, Colophon, and More
There are a lot of chapters in this collection.
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Last Updated
9 Feb 2020
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Cite this Entry
“Ream.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ream. Accessed 18 Feb. 2020.
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More Definitions for ream
ream
nounEnglish Language Learners Definition of ream
(Entry 1 of 2)
: an amount of paper that equals 480, 500, or 516 sheets
informal : a large amount of writing
ream
verbEnglish Language Learners Definition of ream (Entry 2 of 2)
US, informal : to criticize (someone) in an angry way
See the full definition for ream in the English Language Learners Dictionary
ream
noun\ ˈrēm \
\Kids Definition of ream
1 : a quantity of paper that may equal 480, 500, or 516 sheets
2 reams plural : a great amount
I took reams of notes in class.
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Time Traveler for ream
The first known use of ream was in the 14th century
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