What is the difference between the verbs teem and team?

Verb

If you want to describe an overflowing abundance of something, the word you are looking for is teem. We often see reference to "the teeming masses," "streets teeming with activity," or "forests teeming with life." You want the word team if you are trying to describe pairing two or more things in a coordinated ensemble ("she teamed the oxen together"), or forming some kind of partnership or association ("we are teaming with another organization this year").

Examples of team in a Sentence

Noun a doubles team in tennis He is the best player on his team. They are the worst team in baseball. To get the job done more quickly, we split up into teams. We worked as a team to put out the fire. The company hired a team of lawyers to advise them. a search and rescue team A dog team pulled the sled. Verb a show that teams two of television's funniest comedians See More

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun McGee has been averaging 6.3 points on a team-high 71.7% this series, 4.5 rebounds in 12.3 minutes off the bench. — Dana Scott, The Arizona Republic, 9 May 2022 Philadelphia was the No. 7 seed in the NFC last year, the final team to enter the playoffs, but was bounced in the wild card round in a 31-15 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. — Lorenzo Reyes, USA TODAY, 9 May 2022 Another team whose name is synonymous with lacrosse, Johns Hopkins, had a losing record for the third straight year. — Mike Preston, Baltimore Sun, 9 May 2022 He was also named a Class 4A all-state first-team pick last week. — Jon Hale, The Courier-Journal, 8 May 2022 The College Football Playoff is set to continue its four-team format through the current contract. — Mark Heim | Mheim@al.com, al, 8 May 2022 These predictions help the team -- funded by the National Science Foundation and the UK Natural Environment Research Council -- understand what's going on below the surface. — Allison Chinchar, CNN, 7 May 2022 Green and Maxey each had a team-high 21 points, with all of Maxey’s points coming in the second half. — Tim Casey, Forbes, 7 May 2022 Greyfield Inn has a team of professional naturalists who offer a daily schedule of island tours, savored from the back of their custom naturalist's truck. — Perri Ormont Blumberg, Travel + Leisure, 7 May 2022 Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective Invest in systems, tools, and processes that allow and encourage cross-team collaboration. — Brian Solis, Forbes, 13 Apr. 2022 While workers were interacting with their own small teams more, there was far less cross-team collaboration. — Emily Peck, Fortune, 8 Dec. 2021 In Tampa, Florida, New York Yankees star DJ LeMahieu was among a multi-team group working out for the last time at a high school field less than a mile from New York's complex. — David Brandt, ajc, 12 Mar. 2022 There isn’t an umbrella name for the tournament as the NCAA has a cap of eight teams for multi-team tournaments. — oregonlive, 15 Feb. 2022 Earlier Thursday, the Pistons acquired power forward Marvin Bagley III in a multi-team deal and sent out Josh Jackson, Trey Lyles and two second-round picks. — Omari Sankofa Ii, Detroit Free Press, 10 Feb. 2022 Last January, the Columbus native who played his prep ball at Pickerington Central High School and was on his way to Ohio University before ending up at Michigan, was part of the Brooklyn Nets’ multi-team blockbuster. — Tim Bielik, cleveland, 9 Feb. 2022 Introducing a dashboard with high-priority and cross-team goals generates plenty of strategic conversation. — Mikaela Kiner, Forbes, 25 Jan. 2022 Players who are rehabbing injuries may be forced to move to a non-team facility. — Bobby Nightengale, USA TODAY, 25 Nov. 2021 Recent Examples on the Web: Verb In it, Sonic and Tails must team up to help stop Doctor Eggman from taking the Master Emerald — and Eggman has Knuckles on his side. — Marisa Lascala, Good Housekeeping, 10 May 2022 Todd Chrisley and Simon Knight once again team up as executive producers on this project alongside Hank Stepleton. — Carson Burton, Variety, 10 May 2022 Nine film directors, from Scorsese to Regina King to Chloé Zhao, team up with curators at the Met to reframe our country’s history of design. — New York Times, 6 May 2022 Enlarge / Strange and America eventually team up in fantastic fashion. — Sam Machkovech, Ars Technica, 5 May 2022 Advertisers team up with networks to create custom content that’s tailored to an already devout demographic. — Yec, Forbes, 4 May 2022 Producers Adam Sandler and LeBron James team up on this sports drama about a desperate basketball scout who discovers a big talent with a rocky past in Europe and brings him to the U.S. for a longshot tryout with the Philadephia 76ers. — cleveland, 3 May 2022 Brad Pitt and the late James Gandolfini briefly team up as Jackie and Mickey, two hitmen tasked with exacting some street justice on three men who perpetrated the robbery. — Keith Nelson, Men's Health, 30 Apr. 2022 The speedy linebacker would team with De’Vondre Campbell to give the Packers sideline-to-sideline coverage against the run and pass. — Jr Radcliffe, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 27 Apr. 2022 See More

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'team.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.