teem

/ti:m/

Thân thiện

The plaza is teeming with people.

Definition

1. Verb:
   • To be full of or swarming with: To be present in large numbers; to abound or be plentiful.
   • To pour out or empty: (Archaic) To empty or pour out a liquid.

Examples of Usage

• Verb (to be full of):

  • The riverbanks teem with insects in the summer.
  • The city streets teemed with tourists during the festival.
  • Her imagination teems with creative ideas.

• Verb (archaic: to pour out):

  • He teemed the water from the bucket onto the plants. (This usage is now rare.)

Advanced Usage

• "to teem down": (British English, informal) To rain very heavily.

  • It's been teeming down all afternoon, so we stayed indoors.

• "to teem with life": To be full of living things; to be vibrant and active.

  • The coral reef teems with life of all shapes and colors.

Variants and Related Words

• Teeming (adj): Abundantly filled with people, animals, or things; swarming.

  • The teeming metropolis never sleeps.

• Teemful (adj): (Archaic) Full; fertile; prolific. Rarely used in modern English.

Synonyms

• Swarm: To move in or form a large, dense group.
• Abound: To exist in great numbers or quantities.
• Brim: To be full to the point of overflowing.
• Pullulate: (Formal) To breed or spread prolifically; to teem.

Related Phrasal Verbs

• Teem with: To have something in great abundance. This is the most common construction.
  • The old house teemed with cockroaches.
  • His report teemed with factual errors.

Related Idioms

• Teeming masses: A very large, dense crowd of people.
  • The politician addressed the teeming masses gathered in the square.

Học thuật

Verb

1. move in large numbers
   • people were pouring out of the theater
   • beggars pullulated in the plaza
2. be teeming, be abuzz
   • The garden was swarming with bees
   • The plaza is teeming with undercover policemen
   • her mind pullulated with worries

Từ đồng nghĩa

• pour
• swarm
• stream
• pullulate