1
: the protuberance through which milk is drawn from an udder or breast : nipple
2
: a small projection or a nib (as on a mechanical part)
teated
ˈti-təd How to pronounce teat (audio)
ˈtē-
adjective

Examples of teat in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web A lot of those cattle are still alive but the hooves are burned off, the teats on their udders are burned off. Anna Betts, New York Times, 29 Feb. 2024 In the initial stages of its life, a baby kangaroo, known as a joey, faces the crucial task of maneuvering through its mother's fur to reach and secure itself onto a teat within the pouch. Maeghan Dolph, Fox News, 30 Jan. 2024 Colleges won’t need donors - just endless access to the federal teat. Neetu Arnold, National Review, 20 Oct. 2023 The firm that stands out among those fattening themselves off the taxpayer teat is Amazon, which has taken in nearly $10.4 billion in federal contracts, according to the IPS. Jason Linkins, The New Republic, 6 Oct. 2023 Then, a calf, clearly exhausted, dropped onto its knees to nurse from its mother’s teat. Jackie Caradonio, Travel + Leisure, 21 Sep. 2023 Her young foal is tied to her rear leg to trick her into thinking that its mouth, not your hands, is tugging at her teats. Douglas Girardot, Washington Post, 2 May 2023 And so farm operators across the country have been turning to immigrants to scrape the manure off barn floors, herd the heavy animals from corrals to milking parlors, and attach cows’ teats to machines that pump the milk that fills gallon jugs in supermarket refrigerators. Melissa Sanchez and Maryam Jameel, Journal Sentinel, 23 Feb. 2023 Some tribes’ success in the face of such negligence has led outsiders, like Forbes contributor and Johns Hopkins professor Steve Hanke, to claim that all tribes should simply follow this route—all tribal lands should be privatized and weaned off the government teat. Matt Ford, The New Republic, 12 Aug. 2021

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'teat.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Middle English tete, teet "nipple of a human or animal, woman's breast," borrowed from Anglo-French tete (also continental Old French), either borrowed from West Germanic *tittōn- or an independent Romance formation, both of nursery origin — more at tit entry 1

First Known Use

12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of teat was in the 12th century

Dictionary Entries Near teat

Cite this Entry

“Teat.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/teat. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

teat

noun
: the part of a breast or udder through which milk is drawn : nipple

Medical Definition

teat

noun
: the protuberance through which milk is drawn from an udder or breast : nipple

More from Merriam-Webster on teat

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