| 释义 |
▪ I. tea, n.|tiː|
Forms: 7 (9) tay, tey, 7 té, thé, the, 7–8 tee, thea, 7– tea. See also cha, chia.
[= F. thé, Sp. te, It. tè, Du. and Ger. thee, Da., Sw. te, mod.L. thea; ad. (perh. through Malay te, teh) Chinese, Amoy dialect te, in Fuchau tiä = Mandarin ch'a (in ancient Chinese prob. kia); whence Pg. and obs. Sp. cha, obs. It. cià, Russian chaĭ, Pers., Urdu chā (10th c.), Arab. shāy, Turkish chāy. The Portuguese brought the form cha (which is Cantonese as well as Mandarin) from Macao. This form also passed overland into Russia. The form te (thé) was brought into Europe by the Dutch, prob. from the Malay at Bantam (if not from Formosa, where the Fuhkien or Amoy form was used). The original English pronunciation (teː), sometimes indicated by spelling tay, is found in rimes down to 1762, and remains in many dialects; but the current |tiː| is found already in the 17th c., shown in rimes and by the spelling tee.]
1. a. The leaves of the tea-plant (see 3), usually in a dried and prepared state for making the drink (see 2); first imported into Europe in the 17th century, and now extensively used in various parts of the world.
According to Meyer, Konversations-Lexikon, the first mention of it in Europe is due to the Portuguese in 1559 (under the name cha); chia is mentioned in Maffei's Historia Indica in 1588. Under the name te, thee, it was imported by the Dutch from Bantam (where brought by Chinese merchants from Amoy) c 1610; first known in Paris 1635, in Russia (by way of Tartary) 1638, in England about 1650–55.
[1598W. Phillip tr. Linschoten i. xxvi. 46/1 The aforesaid warme water is made with the powder of a certaine hearbe called Chaa.] 1655tr. Semedo's Hist. China i. iii. 19 Chá is a leafe of a tree, about the bignesse of Mirtle; [marg. note] its called also Tay. c1660[T. Garway] (title) An Exact Description of the Growth, Quality, and Vertues of the Leaf Tee, alias Tay. c1665Ibid., These are to give notice that the said Thomas Garway hath Tea to sell from sixteen to fifty shillings the pound. 1667Lond. Gaz. No. 206/3 The most considerable Wares being Cinamon, Ebony, Thea, and Camphire. 1667–8E. Ind. Co.'s Let. 24 Jan. (Letter Bks. IV. 137), Wee desire you to procure and send us by these ships 100lb. waight of the best Tey that you can gett. 1676Beal in Phil. Trans. XI. 586 The tops of red Sage in blossom,..dried in the shade,..did excel the famous Thea, the Chinois themselves being Judges. 1680Lond. Gaz. No. 1573/4 A small parcel of most excellent tea..to be sold,..the lowest price is 30s. a pound. 1728Mrs. Delany in Life & Corr. Ser. i. (1861) I. 172 The man at the Poultry has tea of all prices,—Bohea from thirteen to twenty shillings, and green from twelve to thirty. 1832Veg. Subst. Food 375 Tea..first imported into Europe by the Dutch East-India Company, in the..seventeenth century. 1838T. Thomson Chem. Org. Bodies 858 Tea..is composed of the dried leaves of the thea bohea and thea viridis.
b. With qualifying words, denoting various kinds, chiefly distinguished by the mode of preparation (also applied to the beverages made from these: see 2): the main classes being black tea, which is exposed to the air for some time, so as to produce fermentation, before roasting; and green tea, which is roasted almost immediately after gathering, and often also artificially coloured.
Black teas include bohea, congou, oolong, pekoe, souchong; green teas, gunpowder (or pearl), hyson, etc. See also brick-tea (brick n.1 10), † cowslip tea (cowslip 3).
1704Lond. Gaz. No. 4059/4 Green and Bohee Tea. 1712Addison Spect. No. 328 Green, Imperial, Peco, and Bohea-Tea. 1785Rolliad 53 What tongue can tell the various kinds of Tea? Of Blacks and Greens, of Hyson and Bohea; With Singlo, Congou, Pekoe and Souchong, Couslip the fragrant, Gun-powder the Strong. 1795Anderson Brit. Embassy China 186 The Imperial and gunpowder teas:..the former..collected from the first, and the other from the successive blossoms of that plant. 1832Veg. Subst. Food 379 There are three kinds of green tea..one called hyson, hayssuen, is composed of leaves..carefully picked. 1888J. Paton Tea in Encycl. Brit. XXIII. 97/2 Black and green tea are made indifferently from the leaves of the same plant.
c. Phrases. given away with a pound of tea: see give v. 54 a; not for all the tea in China (colloq., orig. Austral.): not at any price.
1937Partridge Dict. Slang 148/1 China!, not for all the tea in, certainly not!; on no account: Australian coll.: from the 1890's. 1943K. Tennant Ride on Stranger ii. 19 I'm not going to stand in my girl's light for all the tea in China. 1958J. Cannan And be Villain vi. 137 She wouldn't get into a sidecar or on a pillion for all the tea in China. 1978Radio Times 11–24 Mar. 25/5, I wouldn't change Newcastle for all the tea in China... It's a lovely place to live in.
2. a. A drink made by infusing these leaves in hot water, having a somewhat bitter and aromatic flavour, and acting as a moderate stimulant; largely used as a beverage.
[1601–1625: see chia. 1631 Bontius Hist. Nat. et Med. Indiæ Orient. i. vi. (1658) 12 Dur. Memineras de Chinensium Thee vocato Potu, quid tu de eo sentis? Bont. Herbula unde hoc The conficitur [etc.]. ]1658Mercurius Politicus 23 Sept. 887 Advt., That excellent..drink called by the Chineans Tcha, by other Nations Tay alias Tee. 1660Pepys Diary 25 Sept., I did send for a cup of tee (a China drink) of which I never had drunk before. 1663Dryden Wild Gallant i. ii, I sent for three dishes of tea. 1679Locke in Ld. King Life (ed. Bohn) 135 Foreign drinks to be found in England are..coffé, thé and chocolate at coffee houses. 1694Congreve Double Dealer i. i, They are at the end of the gallery, retired to their tea and scandal..after dinner. 1711Addison Spect. No. 10 ⁋2 All well-regulated Families, that set apart an Hour in every Morning for Tea and Bread and Butter. 1711Pope Rape of Lock iii. 8 Here, thou, great Anna! whom three realms obey, Dost sometimes counsel take—and sometimes Tea. c1720Prior To Yng. Gentl. in Love 58 He thank'd her on his bended knee; Then drank a quart of milk and tea. 1762Gentl. Mag. Apr. 187/2 No crowding sycophants from day to day, Came to admire the babe—but more the tea. 1834Lang in Tait's Mag. I. 414/1 In the bush, or uncultivated country in New South Wales, tea is the universal beverage. 1858Lytton What will he do i. vi, Your tea will get quite cold.
b. cup of tea (colloq. phr.): see cup n. 12 b.
c. A cupful of tea.
1922Joyce Ulysses 729 We both ordered 2 teas and plain bread and butter. 1976B. Gibson Birmingham Bombs xii. 104 Three teas, two coffees, and a large steak and kidney pie.
d. one's tea: what interests or suits one. rare. Cf. cup n. 12 b (ii).
1934E. Waugh Handful of Dust iii. 135 Are you certain Jenny will be Tony's tea?
e. tea and sympathy: consolation offered to a distressed person. Also attrib.
1956(film title) Tea and sympathy. 1958Listener 2 Oct. 537/1 We leave Mrs. Newby enjoying tea and sympathy. 1970Y. Carter Mr. Campion's Falcon i. 7 He was a tea-and-sympathy man, full of tactful advice. 1978J. Higgins Day of Judgment xii. 168 ‘There may be something I could do.’ ‘Tea and sympathy... No more than that.’
3. The plant from which tea is obtained, a shrub of the genus Thea (now often included in Camellia), N.O. Ternstrœmiaceæ, with white flowers, and oval pointed slightly toothed evergreen leaves; cultivated from ancient times in China, Japan, India, and adjacent countries. (Now chiefly in comb., as tea-leaf, -plant, etc.)
The plants yielding the tea of commerce are comprised in the species T. chinensis or C. theifera (including two varieties T. Bohea and T. viridis, sometimes reckoned as different species), of China and Japan, and T. (or C.) assamica, of Assam and India; the latter is found wild in Upper Assam, and is by some supposed to be the original type.
1663Boyle Usef. Exp. Nat. Philos. ii. ii. 104 That Herb, which the French and we call Thé, or Té, which is much magnified here. 1685J. Chamberlayne Coffee, Tea & Choc. 38 The most excellent leaves of Cha, or Tea, are found in the provinces of Kiangnon. 1745P. Thomas Jrnl. Anson's Voy. 193 Because warm Water is unpalatable.., they [the Chinese] bethought themselves of putting some Leaves of a Tree into it, to give it a better Taste. Those of Tea seemed to be the best.
4. a. A meal or social entertainment at which tea is served; esp. an ordinary afternoon or evening meal, at which the usual beverage is tea (but sometimes cocoa, chocolate, coffee, or other substitute). Now usu. a light meal in the late afternoon, but locally in the U.K. (esp. northern), and in Australia and N.Z., a cooked evening meal; in Jamaica, the first meal of the day.
high tea, meat tea: see high a. 21, meat n. 6. tea and turn-out: see turn-out.
1738Swift Pol. Conversat. Introd. 2 Whether they meet..at Meals, Tea, or Visits. 1778F. Burney Evelina (1791) I. xxvi. 144, I was relieved by a summons to tea. 1789Wesley Wks. (1872) IV. 453 At breakfast and at tea, on these two days, I met all the Society. 1833H. Martineau Loom & Lugger i. iii, She asked Rebecca if she would come to tea at their house. 1882F. A. Kemble Later Life II. 187 My first introduction to ‘afternoon tea’ took place during this visit to Belvoir [in 1842]. I do not believe that the now universally-honoured institution of ‘five o'clock tea’ dates further back than this. 1897B. Harraden H. Strafford, Remitt. Man iii, A rattling good tea—hot rolls, fried potatoes, and quail. 1901Clark Russell Ship's Adv. iv, Mrs. Brierly spread a liberal tea upon the table. 1914G. B. Shaw Misalliance 80 He calls his lunch his dinner, and has his tea at half-past six. Havnt you, dear? a1925[see market n. 1 b]. 1938N. Marsh Artists in Crime vi. 81 ‘We finished tea at half-past eight, about.’ ‘The gentleman is talking of the evening meal. They dine at noon in the Antipodes, I understand.’ 1952in Cassidy & Le Page Dict. Jamaican English (1967) 439/1 Tea—same as chaklata... Tea at 6:30 a.m. 1957N.Z. Listener 22 Nov. 4/3 More than one New Zealander has been invited to ‘tea’ in England and arrived hours too late, the meal finished and the guests gone. 1968Southerly XXVIII. 5 ‘What have you got for tea?’ he asked... ‘It's a coupla nice little bits of fillet Mr. Ballard let me have.’
b. to take tea with (colonial slang): to have dealings with, associate with; esp. to deal with in a hostile manner, engage with, encounter.
1888‘R. Boldrewood’ Robbery under Arms xxxvii, ‘Maybe we'll take tay with the rest of 'em now’. They didn't know the man they were after, or they'd have just as soon have gone to ‘take tea’, as they called it, with a tiger. 1896Kipling Seven Seas, Lost Legion ii, Take tea with the giddy Masai. 1905Daily Chron. 2 June 3/3 In polite circles genealogies are tabooed, the slightest trace of hybridity barring ‘taking tea’, as the local phrase has it.
c. to go (out) for one's tea (see quots.). N. Ir. slang.
1978F. Burton Politics of Legitimacy iii. 78 A Provo would scoff at the Officials' merely elocutionary skills while they were ‘going out for their tea’ (that is, going on military operations which might result in their death). 1979Courier-Mail (Brisbane) 1 Mar. 5/1 ‘Going for your tea’ in Belfast can be a painful experience—being dragged out by a terrorist punishment squad to get a bullet in the legs.
5. Used as a general name for infusions made in the same way as tea (sense 2), usually from the leaves, blossoms, or other parts of plants; mostly used medicinally, sometimes as ordinary drinks.
Commonly with defining words, as alehoof tea, balm tea, beef tea, camomile tea, camphor tea, coffee tea, cowslip tea, hartshorn tea, laurel tea, lemon tea, lemon-grass tea, poppy tea, rosemary tea, sage tea, saloop tea, sassafras tea, senna tea, tilleul tea, valerian tea, willow (etc.) tea: see these words. So humorously limestone tea (quot. 1723).
1665–6Phil. Trans. I. 250 They dry..Sage-leaves..and prepare them like The, and..get for one pound of it, four times as much The. 1699Evelyn Acetaria §27. 27 Some of them [flowers] are Pickl'd, and divers of them make also very pleasant and wholsome Theas, as do likewise the Wild Time, Bugloss, Mint, &c. 1723Stukeley Let. 22 July, in Mem. (Surtees) III. 249, I am just drinking your health in a swinger of limestone thea [Bath water]. 1724Watts Logic i. iv. §4 Tea, which was the proper name of one sort of Indian leaf, is now-a-days become a common name for many infusions of herbs, or plants, in water: as sage-tea, alehoof-tea, limon-tea, etc. 1727A. Hamilton New Acc. E. Ind. II. l. 222 He treated me with Tartarian Tea, which I took to be Beans boyled in Milk, with some salt. 1731Gentl. Mag. I. 314 Of some of these Ingredients [Marsh Mallow, &c.] so dried, make Tea, as you do common Tea, with boiling hot Water. 1778R. James Diss. Fevers 135 Any syrup, jelly of currants, barley-water, gruel, or any sort of tea. 1783S. Chapman in Med. Commun. I. 305 He was advised to leave off drinking foreign tea, and to drink valerian, or rosemary, tea. 1795tr. Thunberg's Trav. I. 128 Of the leaves of the barbonia cordata the country people made tea. 1863Bates Nat. Amazon iv. (1864) 92 The men had made a fire in the galley, to make tea of an acid herb called ‘erva cidreira’. 1866Treas. Bot. 1127 Lemon-grass Tea, an infusion of the leaves of Andropogon Schœnanthus, substituted for tea in many of the interior districts of India. Ibid., Tea..of heaven, a Japanese name for the leaves of Hydrangea Thunbergii. 1881Trans. Obstet. Soc. Lond. XXII. 32 The word ‘tea’ is by the natives of this island [Jamaica] applied to any infusion made from leaves of plants either fresh or dry. ‘Cotton leaf tea’ is made from the green leaves of one of the shrubs that produces the cotton of commerce. 1893Baring-Gould Cheap Jack Z. II. xvi. 41 It is given poppy tea, and that sends it to sleep.
6. With defining words, applied to various plants whose leaves, flowers, etc. are used in the same way as tea, either for beverages, or medicinally (also to the leaves, etc. themselves, or the drink infused from them). (See also tea-plant, tea-tree.)
Abyssinian tea = Arabian tea, (a). Algerian tea, species of Paronychia, from whose flowers a medicinal tea is made. Appalachian tea, (a) Viburnum cassinoides; (b) Ilex Cassine, I. vomitoria, or Prinos glaber. Arabian tea, (a) Catha edulis, whose leaves furnish a stimulating beverage used in Arabia; (b) = Algerian tea. Australian tea, (a) ‘several species of Leptospermum and Melaleuca’ (Treas. Bot. 1866): see tea-tree 2; (b) = Botany Bay tea (Morris Austral Eng. 1898). Barbary tea, the box-thorn or Duke of Argyll's tea-tree, Lycium barbarum. Bencoolen tea, Glaphyria nitida (Leptospermum nitidum), of the Malayan islands. Blue Mountain or golden rod tea, Solidago odora of North America, from whose leaves and flowers a beverage is made. Botany Bay tea, an Australian species of sarsaparilla, Smilax glycyphylla, also called sweet tea. Bourbon tea = Faham tea. Brazil or Brazilian tea, Stachytarpha jamaicensis. bush tea, Cyclopia genistoides of S. Africa. Canada tea = tea-berry: see Canada. Canary tea, Sida canariensis (S. rhombifolia). Carolina tea, Ilex vomitoria: = Appalachian tea, (b). † Ceylon tea, Elæodendron glaucum: see tea-tree 3 (obs.). faham tea, a tropical orchid, Angræcum fragrans. † false tea = Paraguay tea. Hottentot's tea, Helichrysum serpyllifolium (see Hottentot 3). Jesuits' tea, (a) Psoralea glandulosa (see Jesuit n. 4 c; (b) = Paraguay tea (Cent. Dict.). Kaffir tea, Helichrysum nudifolium (see Kaffir 4). Labrador tea, Ledum latifolium and L. palustre (see Labrador). Malay tea, (a) = Bencoolen tea; (b) Eugenia variabilis. marsh tea, Ledum palustre (Cent. Dict.). Mexican tea, (a) Ambrina (Chenopodium) ambrosioides; (b) = Jesuits' tea, (a): see Mexican A. b. mountain tea = tea-berry: see mountain 9 d. New Jersey tea, Ceanothus americanus (see quot. 1858). New Zealand tea, Leptospermum scoparium: see tea-tree 2. Oswego tea: see Oswego 2. Paraguay tea, Ilex paraguayensis, extensively used in S. America as a substitute for tea: see Paraguay 1. St. Bartholomew's tea = Paraguay tea (Cent. Dict.). St. Helena tea, Beatsonia (Frankenia) portulacifolia. soldiers' tea = matico. South Sea tea = Paraguay tea; also an erroneous name for Carolina tea. Surinam tea, ‘various species of Lantana’ (Miller Plant-n.). sweet tea = Botany Bay tea. teamster's tea, a N. American plant, Ephedra antisyphilitica, used as a remedy for venereal affections. Theezan tea, Sageretia theezans, a thorny rhamnaceous shrub of S. China, whose leaves are said to be used for tea by the poorer classes. West Indian tea, Capraria biflora, also called goat-weed. wild tea, a N. American leguminous shrub, Amorpha canescens, also called lead-plant.
1727–41Chambers Cycl., South-Sea tea [see Paraguay 1]. 1760J. Lee Introd. Bot. App. 321 Osweego Thea, Monarda [didyma]. Ibid. 329 False Tea, Ilex. Ibid., New Jersey Tea, Ceanothus. Ibid., Paraguay Tea, Ilex. Ibid., South-sea Tea, Ilex. 1764Museum Rust. II. xxxviii. 117 The South-Sea tea, which is thought to be the same plant as the Paraguay tea; but whether it is the same as the tea brought from China, is yet undetermined. 1788D. Considen Let. to Banks in Hist. Rec. N.S. Wales (1892) I. ii. 220, I have sent you some of the sweet tea of this country,..it is a good anti-scorbutic. 1790J. White Voy. N.S. Wales 195 The sweet-tea is a creeping kind of vine..the taste is sweet, exactly like the liquorice root of the shops. 1814Roxburgh Hort. Bengal. 18 Elæodendrum glaucum, Ceylon Tea. 1857Henfrey Elem. Bot. §508. 336 [The leaves] of Ilex Paraguayensis, called Maté or Paraguay Tea, resemble Tea in property. 1858Hogg Veg. Kingd. lxvi. 237 The leaves of Ceanothus americanus were used during the revolutionary war as a substitute for tea, and hence it is called New Jersey Tea. Ibid. cxv. 482 The leaves [of Gaultheria procumbens]..make an excellent substitute for tea,..and the plant is..called Tea-berry and Mountain Tea. Ibid. cxix. 489 Ilex vomitoria has been erroneously called South Sea Tea, from the supposition that it was the same plant as I. paraguensis. 1866Treas. Bot. 49 Ambrina ambrosioides, or Mexican Tea,..long naturalised in the south of Europe, is used medicinally. Ibid. 369 The leaflets of [Cyclopia genistoides] are used at the Cape in infusion or decoction for promoting expectoration... It is called Bush Tea. [Ibid. 1005 S[ageretia] theezans, the Tia of the Chinese, is a thorny shrub, with..finely-toothed egg-shaped leaves..somewhat resembling those of the tea-shrub. ] Ibid. 1090 [The] leaves [of Stachytarpha jamaicensis] are sometimes used to adulterate tea, and in Austria they are sold under the name of Brazilian tea.Ibid. 1127 Tea, Abyssinian,..Appalachian [etc.],..Arabian,..Australian [etc.]. 1904Dunglison's Dict. Med. (ed. 23), Matico{ddd}the leaves of Piper angustifolium or soldiers' tea or herb.
7. slang.
a. Spirituous or intoxicating liquor.
†b. Urine (obs.).
1693Remonstr. Batchelors in Harl. Misc. (ed. Park) IV. 505 Since their sex has been so familiar with brandy (blasphemed by the name of cold tea). 1716Gay Trivia ii. 176 The thoughtless Wits..Who 'gainst the Centry's Box discharge their Tea. 1887J. J. Hissey Holiday on Road 370 Tea or coffee were always at our command, Scotch tea also (i.e. whisky). 1902Times 29 Oct. 5/6 It was all owing to the ‘tea’... He understood that this was a slang term for drink.
c. Marijuana; spec. marijuana brewed in hot water to make a drink. orig. U.S.
1935A. J. Pollock Underworld Speaks 119/2 Tea, mariahuana; hashish. 1940[see ju-ju2]. 1950San Francisco Chron. 22 Feb. 20/1 A couple of years ago she started blowing tea. 1957[see connexion 6 c]. 1967Boston Sunday Herald 26 Mar. iv. 1/1 Marijuana..when brewed with hot water,..is called ‘tea’. 1979High Times Mar. 18/2 Consider the number of words that served for a time and then passed into embarrassed silence. ‘Muggles’ and ‘tea’—words that sound right only in Raymond Chandler novels now.
8. Florists' abbreviation of tea-rose.
1869S. R. Hole Bk. Roses vi. 77 The autumn leaves.., decayed to mould, are very advantageous to the Teas, Noisettes, and Bourbons. 1889Pall Mall G. 6 July 3/2 At Cheshunt about 200,000 standard rose seedlings and 40,000 ‘teas’ are sown every year. 1901Eliza. & German Gard. 17, I wish now I had put teas there. Ibid. 18, I made my teas face a northern winter.
9. attrib. and Comb.
a. attrib. Of, pertaining or relating to, dealing or connected with tea as a commodity, as tea act, tea bill, tea-broker, tea-dealer, tea-duty, tea-hong (see hong), tea industry, tea merchant, tea-tax, tea trade, tea warehouse; or as a beverage, as tea-breakfast, tea-dinner, tea-dregs, tea junketing, tea picnic, tea soirée, tea-supper, tea-visit; containing or intended to contain tea, as tea-bowl, tea-hamper, tea-jar, tea-mug, tea-pail, tea-slop; of or pertaining to the tea-plant or its cultivation, as tea crop, tea cultivation, tea culture, tea district, tea estate, tea-farming, tea-field, tea-hill, tea nursery, tea plantation, tea-seed, tea-tract.
b. Objective and obj. gen., as tea-blender, tea-grower, tea-packer, tea-producer, tea-sipper, tea-spiller, tea-strainer; tea-blending, tea-growing, tea-loving, tea-packing, tea-picking, tea-swilling ns. and adjs.; instrumental and parasynthetic, as tea-bathed, tea-coated, tea-coloured, tea-covered, tea-drowned, tea-dunked, tea-inspired, tea-sodden adjs.; also similative, as tea-brown adj.
1746Lockman To 1st Promoter Cambrick & Tea Bills 13 note, Since the *Tea-Act pass'd last session, the revenue is increased 85,000l. per annum.
1922Joyce Ulysses 258 He smiled at bronze's *tea-bathed lips, at listening lips and eyes.
1904Westm. Gaz. 15 Aug. 6/2 The big *tea-blenders naturally took advantage of this cheapness to push and extend their business.
1901Daily Chron. 6 May 9/3 Man wanted for *tea blending warehouse.
1865G. Meredith Rhoda Fleming xxxii, The squire..drank, defying ladies and the new-fangled subserviency to those flustering *tea-bodies.
1886Guide Galleries Brit. Mus. 209 On the upper shelves are examples of..*tea-bowls.
1825Hone Every-day Bk. I. 951, I..got up to a hot *tea-breakfast.
1770Chron. in Ann. Reg. 154/2 A *tea-broker, charged with forging a warrant for the delivery of three chests of tea.
1922Joyce Ulysses 532 A nymph with hair unbound, lightly clad in *tea-brown art colours, descends from her grotto.
1902Westm. Gaz. 31 Dec. 9/3 The *Tea Clearing House has succumbed to the attack of tea producers, importers, dealers, and brokers.
1953Dylan Thomas Under Milk Wood (1954) 48 Willy Nilly the Postman's dark and sizzling damp *tea-coated misty pygmy kitchen.
1829W. H. Maxwell Stories Waterloo I. 194 Short tights of *tea-coloured leather.
1897J. A. Graham Threshold Three Closed Lands ii. 30 As our eye follows up one of the *tea-covered spurs it lights on the houses of Darjeeling.
1906Month Feb. 177 Sides green with sprouting *tea crops.
1842Penny Cycl. XXIV. 286/2 Papers respecting *tea cultivation in India.
Ibid. 286/1 The *tea-culture in Assam.
1758Chron. in Ann. Reg. i. 111/1 Four *tea dealers were tried before the commissioners of excise. 1886C. E. Pascoe London of To-day xxii. (ed. 3) 216 The premises of one of the oldest firms in London—those of the Messrs. Twining, tea-dealers and bankers.
1862R. C. Mayne Brit. Columbia 121 We lunched with him, returning to the fort for a *tea-dinner. 1896Allbutt's Syst. Med. I. 402 That customary but very unwholesome combination the tea-dinner is to be avoided.
1842Penny Cycl. XXIV. 286/1 There are green tea and black *tea districts.
1882W. D. Hay Brighter Britain! I. 161 What will be the future of these young *tea-drowned nations?
1973M. Amis Rachel Papers 68 A small middle-aged man (with unusually big brown ears, like *tea-dunked ginger-biscuits).
1842Penny Cycl. XXIV. 291/1 The tariff of 1842 has made no alteration in the *tea-duty.
1886Pall Mall G. 19 May 6/1 The new industry of *tea-farming..promises to become a new source of wealth to Ceylon.
1895C. Holland Jap. Wife 110 The cemeteries and *tea-fields stretched below us.
1888J. Paton in Encycl. Brit. XXIII. 99/1 Comparatively few regions are suited for practical *tea-growing. Ibid. 99/1 The capacities of Assam as a tea-growing country.
1854Zoologist XII. 4206 The *tea-hills in the province of Chekiang.
1885Cornh. Mag. Mar. 281 [The tea-leaves are] fired under their own supervision in the great *tea-hongs.
1888J. Paton in Encycl. Brit. XXIII. 102/1 Next to the United Kingdom, the greatest *tea-importing nation is the United States.
Ibid. 99/1 The *tea industry has developed in Ceylon with marvellous rapidity.
1891B. E. Martin Footpr. Chas. Lamb iii. 65 Hazlitt, with..his *tea-inspired turgidity.
1870C. Schreiber Jrnl. (1911) I. 74 An old Staffordshire Ware *tea-jar. Ibid., Our purchase of the George III tea-jar. 1983J. Sligo Concert Masters iv. 105 The Chinese tea jar on the mantelpiece.
1820W. Irving Sketch Bk. xxvi. (1859) 189 Little humdrum *tea junketings.
1883Cassell's Fam. Mag. Aug. 529/1 The *tea-loving English public.
1888J. Paton in Encycl. Brit. XXIII. 99/1 It is these tender shoots..which alone are gathered for *tea manufacture.
1781S. Peters Hist. Connecticut 407 [To] exert themselves..in favour of the Bostonian *tea-merchants. 1842Penny Cycl. XXIV. 291/2 The number of tea merchants who resort to Canton.
1955T. H. Pear English Social Differences viii. 186 There is said to be a class which considers the *tea-mug very chic.
1842Penny Cycl. XXIV. 286/2 When the *tea nurseries were established in Assam.
1904Daily News 13 Oct. 12 The dispute between the *tea-packers and the management of the Co-operative Wholesale Society.
1898Daily Chron. 24 Sept. 10/6 Boy wanted..in *tea-packing warehouse.
1906Macm. Mag. Apr. 457 Their..method is to stalk the Chinese of either sex when they are engaged in *tea-picking.
1842Penny Cycl. XXIV. 286/2 The *tea plantations established in the Kumaon and Gurhwal districts.
1894Westm. Gaz. 5 Jan. 6/3 The British have become..the greatest *tea-producers..in the world.
1888J. Paton in Encycl. Brit. XXIII. 98/2 Till well into the 19th century..China and Japan were the only two *tea-producing countries.
1786M. Cutler in Life, etc. (1888) I. 190, I have no doubt the *tea seed..may be obtained from the East Indies in a vegetative state.
1756Hanway Ess. Tea viii. 245 Were they the sons of *tea-sippers, who won the fields of Cressy and Agincourt?
1906Joyce Let. 8 Dec. (1966) II. 201 Your friend..ought to get a running kick in the arse for writing his *tea-slop about it. 1967E. A. Gollschewsky in Coast to Coast 1965–6 94 Ettie surveyed the tea-table. It was still fairly orderly... No tea-slops in saucers.
1849Thackeray Pendennis xliv, A brilliant *tea soirée.
1877G. W. Balfour in Encycl. Brit. VII. 482/1 *Tea-sots are well known to be affected with palpitation and irregularity of the heart.
1837W. Phillips in C. Martyn Life (1890) 96 Certainly we sons of the *tea-spillers are a marvellously patient generation! [Cf. tea-party 2 a.]
1906Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 26 Jan. 4/6 Kitchen utilities..*Tea Strainers. 1970Kay's Catal. 1970/71 Autumn/Winter 895 A stainless steel tea strainer and a decorated ceramic tile are set into a Teak wood base in this contemporary Danish design.
1892Zangwill Childr. Ghetto I. 198 The story-book which Moses read out after *tea-supper.
1888J. Paton in Encycl. Brit. XXIII. 101/1 Dependent on China for its *tea supply.
1961Times 2 Oct. 13/4 Arms akimbo, bridling, bristling, and scolding, the *tea-swilling Dame would at last be caught in the mangle.
1907Edin. Rev. July 97 The *tea-tax strikes tea-drinkers only.
1842Penny Cycl. XXIV. 286/2 At first only a few [indigenous] *tea-tracts were discovered [in Assam].
1756Hanway Ess. Tea xii. 258 The *tea trade employs six hundred seamen..together with six ships, which we annually send to Canton.
1888J. Paton in Encycl. Brit. XXIII. 102/2 The only other considerable *tea-using nation is Russia.
1765J. Brown Chr. Jrnl. (1814) 331 Yonder professors come from a *tea-visit. 1807–8W. Irving Salmag. i. (1824) 7 When ladies paid tea-visits at three in the afternoon.
1888Pall Mall G. 9 May 10/1 Certain *tea warehousemen of the City of London.
c. Special Combs.: tea-bag, (a) Canad., a bag for carrying provisions; (b) a small permeable bag of paper or cloth containing tea for infusion; tea ball, a ball of wire or perforated metal in which tea is placed for infusion; tea bar, a bar (bar n.1 28) at which tea is sold as a beverage; tea basket, a basket containing the requisites for afternoon tea in a railway train or the like; tea-bell, a bell rung to summon a household or company to tea; tea-billy (billy3), a tin can used by Australian bushmen as a tea-kettle or tea-pot; also used in New Zealand; tea-boiler, a vessel used for boiling tea; tea-bottle, a bottle containing tea (sense 2 a); also slang, an old maid; tea-box, (a) a box for containing tea; in quot. 1825 = tea-chest 2; (b) Canad., a box for carrying food and cooking utensils on an expedition; tea-boy, (a) a man-servant; (b) a youth (occas. a man) employed to serve tea to workers; tea-bread, a kind of light bread eaten at tea; tea-break, an interval, usu. between periods of work, when tea is drunk; tea-brick, a brick of compressed tea leaves (cf. brick-tea s.v. brick n.1 10); tea-broom, New Zealand name for Leptospermum scoparium and L. ericoides (= manuka a, b, tea-tree 2); tea-bug, a destructive insect which infests tea-plants; tea-bush = tea-shrub; tea-caddy, a small box with divisions for holding tea (= caddy n. 1); tea-cake, a light kind of flat cake to be eaten at tea; in quot. 1892 attrib. resembling a tea-cake; tea-can, a metal can used for brewing or carrying tea; tea-canister = tea-caddy; also, slang for ‘brandy-flask’ (cf. 7 a); tea cart U.S., a tea-trolley; tea-case, a case for holding a set of small articles, as spoons, etc. used at tea (Cent. Dict.); tea ceremony, in Japan, the preparation and consumption of green tea, according to strict rules of ceremony, as an expression of Zen Buddhist philosophy; tea-china, china tea-cups and saucers, etc.; tea-chop [chop n.5 5], in China, a chop-boat or lighter for the transportation of tea; tea-circle, a group or society of persons who meet and take tea together; tea-clam, a name in U.S. for a very small clam (clam n.2 1 d: see quot.); tea-clipper, a clipper or fast-sailing vessel formerly employed in the tea trade; tea-cloth, (a) a cloth used for wiping tea-things after washing them; (b) afternoon t., a small table-cloth used at afternoon tea; tea-coat, a garment worn by women at the tea-table (cf. coat n. 2 b, and tea-jacket); † tea-conversation (see conversation 9, quot. 1787); tea-cooper, a workman at a dock who unloads tea and does any necessary repairs to the packing, etc.: cf. cooper n.1 1; tea-cosy, (a) a covering for a tea-pot to keep it hot (see cosy B. 2); (b) in full tea-cosy hat, a round knitted woollen hat resembling a tea-cosy; tea dance = thé dansant s.v. dansant a.; also Canad., ‘a social gathering held by Indians, so called because in the early days the Hudson's Bay Company contributed tea, bannock, etc.’ (Dict. Canadianisms, 1967); hence tea-dance v. intr.; tea-dancer; tea-dancing vbl. n.; † tea-dish, old name for a tea-cup (cf. dish n. 1 b); tea-drunkard, one who habitually drinks tea to such excess as to suffer from its toxic effects; tea-dust, tea of inferior quality, often made from leaves broken in the course of production; attrib. [tr. Chinese chá yè mò tea-leaf dust], used to designate a dark green or brownish (often speckled) glaze on Chinese pottery (see quot. 1899), esp. used on decorative ware; † tea-equipage = tea-service, tea-things; † tea-faced a., ? having a sallow or effeminate countenance like one addicted to tea-drinking; tea-fight, colloq. or slang, humorous name for a tea-party or tea-meeting; tea-frock, tea-gown, names for special fashions of garments worn by girls and women at tea; tea-girl, a girl who serves tea; tea-glass, a glass from which tea (esp. without milk) is drunk; tea-green, a shade of greyish green resembling the colour of tea; † tea-grouter (see quot.); tea-head slang (orig. U.S.), a habitual user of marijuana (cf. sense 7 c above and head n.1 7 e); tea hostess, a woman in charge of serving tea at a tea-party or other social occasion; tea-hound [hound n.1 4 e] U.S. slang (now rare), a man given to frequenting tea-parties; also in extended use, a lady's man (see quot. 1921); tea-hour, the hour at which tea is taken, or the time occupied by it; tea-house, a refreshment-house where tea is served (esp. in China or Japan); tea infuser = tea-maker (c); tea interval, a break for afternoon tea or light refreshment (esp. during a cricket match); tea-jacket, a garment worn by women at tea (cf. tea-coat); † tea-kitchen, a tea-urn (cf. kitchen n. 2 b); † tea-ladle, a ladle for serving tea; tea-lady, a woman who serves tea (esp. in an office); tea-lead, an alloy used for lining tea-chests (see quot.); tea machine, a machine which makes or dispenses tea; tea-maker, (a) a person who dries the leaves and prepares the tea of commerce; (b) one who makes or infuses tea; (c) a vessel or apparatus for infusing tea; (d) an apparatus incorporating a timer and designed to be kept at the bedside which can be pre-set to make tea automatically at any time (typically on awaking); so tea-making n. and a.; tea master , an expert in the proper conduct of the tea ceremony; tea-meeting, a public social meeting (usually in connexion with a religious organization) at which tea is taken; tea money, money paid by employees for drinks of tea at work (in quot. 1906, money paid by an employer to employees to buy their own tea); also transf. (see quot. 1979); tea-night, an evening on which guests are entertained at tea; tea oil, (a) an oil resembling olive-oil, obtained from the seeds of species of Camellia (allied to the tea-plant), and used for various purposes in China and Japan; (b) a narcotic essential oil obtained from tea-leaves; tea olive [from the Chinese use of the flowers to add scent to tea] = sweet olive s.v. sweet a. and adv. C. 1 b; tea pad U.S. slang, a place where one can purchase and smoke marijuana; † tea-paper, the ornamental paper used as a wrapper for tea (obs.); tea place = tea-shop b; tea plate, a small shallow plate for use at tea-time; tea-punch, punch containing tea as an ingredient; tea-roller, a machine for rolling or curling tea-leaves for the market; so tea-rolling; tea room, (a) a room in which tea is served in a refreshment-house, etc.; notably, that of the British House of Commons, the scene of numerous informal meetings of members; (b) U.S. slang, a public lavatory used as a meeting-place by homosexuals; tea-root, the root of a tea-plant; tea-sage, a species or variety of sage used for making sage-tea; † tea-saucer, a saucer for supporting a tea-cup; tea-scent, ‘a European fern, Nephrodium montanum’ (Cent. Dict.); tea-scented a., having a scent like that of tea: applied to a variety of rose (see tea-rose); tea-scrub, a scrub or thicket of ‘tea-trees’ (in Australia, etc.): see tea-tree; tea-seed oil = tea oil (a); tea-service, tea-set, a set of articles used in serving tea at table; a set of tea-things; † tea-shine, colloq. a tea-party (cf. tea-fight); tea-ship, (a) a ship engaged in the tea-trade; (b) a tea-stand with two or more shelves or ‘decks’; tea-shrub, the common tea-plant (see 3); tea-sifter, (a) a person engaged in sifting tea; (b) an apparatus for sifting tea; tea-stall, tea-stand, (a) a stand on which cups, saucers, plates, etc. are placed for use at tea; (b) a stall at which tea is sold; tea-stick, a stick cut from the Australian tea-tree; tea-stone: see quots.; tea-tent, a tent in which tea is served at an outdoor event; tea-things n. pl., the articles used for serving tea at table, as tea-pot, milk-jug, sugar-basin, cups, saucers, plates, etc., together forming a tea-set or tea-service; tea-time, (a) the time at which the meal called tea is taken (see sense 4); also transf.; (b) (rare), the time occupied by or allowed for taking tea; † tea-tongs, a former name for sugar-tongs; tea-towel = tea-cloth (a); tea-treat, (chiefly in Cornwall) a publicly provided out-door tea-party for children, esp. of a Sunday-school; also attrib.; tea-trolley, a trolley (sense 3 c) for conveying tea-things; tea-urn, an urn with a tap, placed upon a tea-table, to hold hot water for making tea; tea-wagon, † (a) an East Indiaman used to carry cargoes of tea (obs.); (b) = tea-trolley above; tea-ware, vessels, etc. for serving tea, tea-things; tea-water, (a) water for making tea; (b) Sc. the beverage tea (= sense 2); tea-wine, a fermented liquor made from tea (see quot.); tea-wrap, a wrap worn by women and girls at tea (rare); tea yellows, a deficiency disease of the tea-plant, esp. in Africa, caused by a lack of sulphur and indicated by small, chlorotic leaves, and the eventual death of the bush. See also tea-berry, -board, -chest, etc.
1898F. Russell Explorations in Far North 161 If a crooked knife, a *tea bag, or anything that is in the heap is needed, everything is tumbled about until it is found. 1936K. Conibear Northland Footprints p. xii, Give him a large piece of bannock from your tea-bag. 1940R. Chandler Farewell, my Lovely xiii. 102 They put Dad in charge of the Bureau of Records and Identification, which in Bay City is about the size of a tea-bag. 1958Sunday Times 30 Mar. 12/3 The sale of tea-bags is creeping up. 1977Lancashire Life Feb. 19/1 Those who think that tea is grown in teabags will be pleasantly surprised to find the enormous number of teas blended and packaged in Britain.
1895Montgomery Ward Catal. Spring & Summer 187/1 Pure Aluminium, *Tea Ball, total length, 7 in. Ball 1½ in. dia. 1929Nation (N.Y.) 4 Dec. 666 The tea ball enables one to pull the tea out before it has given off its tannin. 1976National Observer (U.S.) 16 Oct. 10/3 Peel and crush six cloves of garlic and tie them in a piece of cheesecloth or put them in a tea ball and add this to the warm liquid.
1952Times 12 Nov. 3/2 *Tea bars are increasing. 1976Lancs. Evening Post 7 Dec. 2/2 Mrs. Alice Durdle serves tea to the over 60s at the Lilian Wood Memorial Centre tea bar in Market Street, Preston.
1891Queen 31 Oct. p. xxxvii (Advt.), Drews' Patent En Route 5 o'clock *Tea Basket. 1901Wide World Mag. VIII. 135/1 There is a lump of sugar in the tea-basket.
1836Knickerbocker VIII. 418 It was nearly time for the *tea-bell to ring. 1867A. J. Wilson Vashti i, The sound of the tea-bell terminated her reverie, and she walked to the dining-room.
1894H. Nisbet Bush Girl's Rom. 133 A number of *tea-billies were ranged on the clay hobs, some with tea already brewed, and some with water only. 1939J. Mulgan Man Alone 81 viii. 81 Around him were spread his belongings..clothes, boots, two black tea-billies..and a grey blanket.
1839A. Langton Jrnl. in Gentlewoman Upper Canada (1950) 101 The pie plates, too, are very nice, and also the little *tea-boiler. 1909J. R. Ware Passing Eng. 241/2 *Tea-bottle (Mid.-class), and old maid—from the ordinary drink of spinsters. 1975B. Meyrick Behind Light xv. 198 He unwedged the sought-after tea bottle from its place behind the pipes.
1758A. Pitt Let. 10 Nov. in Lett. Lady Suffolk (1824) II. 252 So I design to send it [sc. a letter] with a *tea box my sister left and does not want. 1825J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 632 The lead which lines the Chinese tea-boxes is reduced to a thinness which our plumbers cannot, it is said, approach. 1972S. Burnford One Woman's Arctic vii. 154 In no time at all had the team hitched up, and his rifle and teabox abroad.
1848Thackeray Van. Fair xxvii, Major O'Dowd..was..as obedient to his wife as if he had been her *tay-boy. 1852Ld. Granville Let. 19 Jan. in E. Fitzmaurice Life Ld. Granville (1905) I. iii. 68 The teaboys of our own and our neighbour's establishments. 1954Atlantic Monthly Aug. 35/1 The auction porters ate their dinners off thick white plates brought over by a cross-eyed teaboy from a café down the road. 1963Times 31 May 12/6 Brutus..said that because of the banning order he was no longer able to work as a teacher and had had to take a job as a ‘tea boy’ with a research worker at the University of the Witwatersrand, for which he got {pstlg}10 a month. 1977Time Out 28 Jan.–3 Feb. 3/2 He certainly writes with all the flowing panache of a trainee teaboy.
1831J. Porter Sir E. Seaward's Narr. I. 229 Some johnny cakes, a West Indian sort of *tea-bread.
1948Brit. Jrnl. Psychol. Mar. 113 Many reasons were given for the almost universal appreciation of the *tea break. 1958A. Sillitoe Saturday Night & Sunday Morning ii. 35 The light flashed: tea-break over. 1981Economist 18 Nov. 17/2 Strikes during the contract period (like the present tea-break strike at BL) would bring heavy damages on the unions.
1962L. Davidson Rose of Tibet v. 87 He had bought *tea bricks..and a large cake of yak butter. 1981Times 7 July 12/7 A food shop in Covent Garden..has introduced.. tea-bricks, such as Chinese mandarins once used to pay their taxes.
1872A. Domett Ranolf Notes 505 Mánuka... The settlers often call it ‘*tea-broom’.
1893Athenæum 16 Dec. 853/3 Mr. Waterhouse..exhibited male and female specimens of a Helopeltis (the *tea-bug),..and stated that it had occurred only in Assam.
1908Dollar Mag. Mar. 32 The *tea bushes were miserably poor just there.
1790Pennsylvania Packet 7 Dec. 3/3 Joseph Anthony, Junior,..Has Imported..*Tea cadies, cannisters and salts. 1837Howitt Rur. Life vi. ix. (1862) 500 Tea-caddies, workboxes of rosewood and pearl. 1866R. M. Ballantyne Shift. Winds xvii, [She] went to a cupboard..and took therefrom a tea-caddy, which she set on the table.
1832L. M. Child Amer. Frugal Housewife 71 There is a kind of *tea cake still cheaper. 1844Dickens Mart. Chuz. xvii. 216 Tea and coffee arrived (with sweet preserves, and cunning tea-cakes in its train). 1892Daily News 31 Dec. 2/1 The bonnet of the moment is set well back on the head, forming a sort of garland above the ‘teacake’ coiffure. 1897R. Hichens Londoners ix. 156 Mr. Bush..was closely engaged with a tea-cake.
1890H. K. Daniels Me & Jim 67 The new plumber he gave him no answer except to drink from his *tea-can and go on reading where he'd left off. 1951J. Fleming Man who looked Back x. 120 He picked up his tea-can. 1978Lancashire Life Nov. 75/2 Erect, at Uncle Dan's immediate righthand, was a large, shining tea-can, its lid back in place.
1726in N. & Q. (1942) 24 Jan. 46/1 Bowl & *tea canister. 1800H. Wells Constantia Neville (ed. 2) III. 121 The tea-canister contained only Congou of no very superior quality. 1859F. Francis Newton Dogvane (1888) 184 Pass us the tea-canister.
1934Webster, *Tea cart. 1958P. de Vries Mackerel Plaza iv. 56 A teacart hove into view, laden with goodies. 1978M. Delving No Sign of Life i. 15 His wife came into the room followed by the maid pushing a tea-cart.
1886E. S. Morse Jap. Homes iii. 149 The party comes about by the host inviting a company of four to attend the *tea-ceremony, and in their presence making the tea in a bowl after certain prescribed forms, and offering it to the guests. 1935Burlington Mag. Mar. 147/2 The tea ceremony, a rite so essentially Japanese that it might be said to epitomize Japanese culture. 1980J. Melville Chrysanthemum Chain 16 A classic four-and-a-half mat tea room with a blond foreigner in full formal Japanese dress performing the tea ceremony.
1790J. Woodforde Diary 15 Dec. (1927) III. 235 My Maid Betty Dade breaking likewise the only *Tea China-Slop-Basin..made me more fretful. 1830Miss Mitford Village Ser. iv. 332 The dresser was..adorned with the remains of a long preserved set of tea-china, of a light rambling pattern.
1876F. W. H. Symondson Two Yrs. abaft Mast vii. 136 A large ‘*tea chop’ (a tea barge) came alongside. 1886R. Brown Spunyarn & Spindrift xxvii. 328 The river was so swollen by the rains that the tea-chops could not get through Foo-chow bridge.
1831Carlyle Sart. Res. iii. ix, Thou..perhaps in many a literary *Tea-circle wilt open thy kind lips.
1883G. B. Goode Fish. Indust. U.S.A. 47 Some are taken so small that 2,000 are required to fill a barrel; these, when about one inch in diameter, are called ‘*tea-clams’.
1895Mem. Jas. Anderson ii. 8 Mr. and Mrs. Anderson set sail from London in a *tea-clipper.
1770C. Carroll Let. 11 Oct. in Maryland Hist. Mag. (1918) XIII. 62 A Hierling..stole a napkin two Towels & a *Tea Cloath wh we Recovered. 1881C. C. Harrison Woman's Handiwork i. 49 The beautiful tea-cloth linen, with its firm round thread, the warp and woof of equal thickness, so common in England. 1888Cassell's Encycl. Dict., Tea-cloth, a cloth used in washing up tea-things. 1891Cent. Dict., Tea-cloth, a cloth for a tea-table or a tea-tray.
1899Westm. Gaz. 12 Aug. 2/1 She came into the room..in a black-and-blue sort of *tea-coat.
1887Pall Mall G. 19 Sept. 2 Years ago the *tea-coopers, who are skilled workmen, had a union.
1871‘M. Legrand’ Camb. Freshm. 18 The elaborate worsted-work teapot cover—technically termed, I believe, a *tea-cosey. 1886[see cosy B. 2]. 1966Tea-cosy [see ensemble v.]. 1975M. Russell Murder by Mile x. 101 A scarlet tea-cosy hat perched on top of her hair.
1885T. Gowanlock Two Months Camp of Big Bear 119 When the Indians held their *tea-dances or pow-wows in times of peace, the squaws and their children joined in and it was a very amusing sight to watch them. 1916W. Stevens Let. 23 Apr. (1967) 193 People are pretty much dependent on the same things as in New-York: band concerts, tea-dances and..coffee-parties. 1965News of North (Yellowknife, N.W. Territories) 29 July 5/4 The ceremony was marked by a tea dance, in which everyone joined. 1978Lancashire Life Nov. 129/2 For in a brave gesture of defiance in the punk era, the management has resurrected the Sunday Afternoon Tea Dance. It's all very Palm Court, even if the palms are plastic.
1980Radio Times 29 Nov.–5 Dec. 87/4 So keen are the *Tea Dancers that they have picked up all these [dances].
1946New Yorker 2 Feb. 4 A Melba trio plays in the Café Pierre, where there is *tea dancing daily. 1962A. Buchwald How much is that in Dollars? 128 Now you can see why the Patterson-Johansson fight didn't mean much to me. Those kids in the U.S. were just tea-dancing. 1964Camsell Arrow (Edmonton, Alberta) Summer 60/4 High point of their four months in the north was the invitation to join the Indians ‘tea dancing’ Anne said. 1977New Yorker 3 Oct. 95/1 Tea dancing at the Kempinski. This goes on every day.
1711Eusden Spect. No. 87 ⁋8, I saw a gentleman turn as pale as ashes, because an idol turned the sugar in a *tea-dish for his rival. 1716Lady M. W. Montagu Lett. 10 Oct. (1887) I. 129 They showed me..a cup, about the size of a tea-dish, of one entire emerald.
1899S. W. Bushell Oriental Ceramic Art xviii. 518 One of the best-known glazes..is the Ch'a-yeh-mo, or ‘*Tea-dust’ glaze, produced by the insufflation of green enamel upon a yellowish-brown ground, which owes its color to iron. The combination produces a peculiarly soft tint of greenish tone, which was highly prized in the reign of Ch'ien-lung. 1909Cent. Dict. Suppl., Tea-dust. 1922Joyce Ulysses 57 Through the open doorway the bar squirted out whiffs of ginger, teadust, biscuitmush. 1945W. B. Honey Ceramic Art of China 145 The ‘iron-rust’ and greenish ‘tea-dust’ glazes..are usually of Ch'ien Lung date. 1979P. Nihalani et al. Indian & Brit. English i. 175 Good quality tea packaged in the form of leaf and known as ‘leaf tea’, and an inferior variety, comparatively inexpensive, called tea-dust. 1980Catal. Fine Chinese Ceramics (Sotheby, Hong Kong) 84 A massive tea-dust bowl..with a finely speckled deep olive-green glaze,..the base covered in an ochre-yellow glaze.
1709Mrs. Manley Secret Mem. (1720) II. 290 He cleans his *Tea-Equipage with his own Hands. 1833T. Hook Parson's Dan. i. ii, The tea equipage was on the table.
1728Ramsay Archers diverting themselves 26 When av'rice, luxury, and ease, A *tea-fac'd generation please.
1849Alb. Smith Pottleton Leg. xxxv, Their various small parties—‘*tea-fights’ as young Grant called them. 1901Scotsman 5 Mar. 7/5 The good people..organise a splendid weekly tea-fight and concert for our behoof.
1903Westm. Gaz. 27 Aug. 4/1 The *tea-frock—the form of the tea-gown nice for the younger folks.
1889Kipling From Sea to Sea (1900) I. 444 The *tea-girls giggled. 1976S. Wales Echo 23 Nov. 6/9 Every employee.., from senior executives to tea girls, would be interviewed.
1898A. Cahan Imported Bridegroom xi. 121 Jealousy..of the empty *tea-glasses.., of the whole excited crowd. 1979D. Gurr Troika xxxiv. 260 Alexey grabbing at the rail, tea glass dropping from his fingers.
1878The World in Royal Exchange 9 Nov., Ladies, who a few years ago would have considered the idea appalling, calmly array themselves in the glorified dressing robe known as a ‘*tea gown’. 1891Woman 15 Jan. 4/1 The factor which has revolutionised the novelistic attire of to-day is the evolution of the tea-gown.
1956W. Edwards in D. L. Linton Sheffield 16 East of the River Trent it [sc. the Rhaetic] overlies the ‘*Tea-Green Marls’ at the top of the Keuper. 1967Vogue 1 Mar. (International Collection) 161/1 She loves the colours. White, pink, blue, butterscotch, tea green, [etc.].
a1833J. T. Smith Bk. for Rainy Day (1905) 76 A prognostication announced to my dear mother by an old star-gazer and *tea-grouter. Note. A fortune-teller by tea-leaves, the leaves being ‘grouted’, or turned over in the cup.
1953W. Burroughs Junkie (1972) ii. 29 Perhaps weed does affect the brain with constant use, or maybe *teaheads are naturally silly. 1967Guardian 8 July 6/2 Doctors, commissions, and plain tea-heads have been ready to go on record about the innocence of the weed cannabis sativa. 1970Tea-head [see head n.1 7 e].
1976Norwich Mercury 19 Nov. 2/5 Mrs J. Bowhill acted as model for the evening dress... *Tea hostesses were Mrs Kedge and Mrs Williams.
1921Dialect Notes V. 111 *Tea-hound, a lady's man. 1925Scribner's Mag. Oct. 353/2 He was a regular tea-hound, he was seen at so many teas.
1884G. Allen Philistia I. 109 Monopolised the..visitor himself for almost the entire *tea-hour.
1689Lond. Gaz. No. 2481/4 Catalogues are given at..Mr. Mainwaring's *Tea-house. 1763J. Bell Travels from St. Petersburg II. x. 54 From the temple we went to a publick tea-house, where we saw many people drinking tea [in Peking]. 1909Daily Chron. 7 June 4/6 This revolution..practically commenced when in 1657 Garraway opened his famous tea-house in Exchange-alley. 1959L.-H. Liang tr. Ting Yi's Short Hist. Mod. Chinese Lit. x. 221 In the rear areas, there were other dramatic forms akin to the ‘street play’, such as the ‘tea-house play’, ‘demonstration play’ and the ‘lantern play’. 1972K. Lo Chinese Food i. 50 There are no pubs or bars and most of the informal leisurely drinking takes place in tea-houses.
1889A. James Diary 5 Aug. (1965) 52 A note of farewell from Mr. Godkin with a *tea-infuser. 1907Yesterday's Shopping (1969) 188/3 Travellers' Companion... For making tea when touring, boating, &c... Comprises kettle,..stand, spirit stove,..and muslin tea infuser. 1960Guardian 4 Jan. 3/1 Collapsible tea infusers.
1923E. P. Oppenheim Inevitable Millionaires xxix. 288 ‘I haven't done wrong in making the tea, have I?’ she asked timidly... ‘Of course not,’ George Henry assured her. ‘The *tea interval is an established custom.’ 1976Dexter & Makins Testkill 143 In the tea interval..I slipped into the pavilion.
1887Girl's Own Paper 25 June 618/3 New *tea-jacket, or après midi, for indoor wear. 1896Daily News 5 Dec. 6/4 The increasing neatness of the tea-gown is perhaps partly owing to the smartness of cut of its rival, the tea jacket.
1770J. Wedgwood Let. 24–26 Dec. (1965) 100 Mr. Boulton..shewed me some bodys and necks made of Porcelaine coloured green to be mounted in Ormoleau for *Tea Kitchens.
1808Jane Austen Let. 27 Dec. (1952) 243 A silver *tea-ladle is also added [to the list].
1964Listener 13 Feb. 287/1 ‘Filthy,’ said a friend's *tea-lady the next morning. 1980Times 13 Nov. 4/8 The tea trolley is being wheeled back... Two years ago, it seemed the ubiquitous tea lady was vanishing beneath a tide of vending machines. This year..automated services are in decline.
1815J. Smith Panorama Sc. & Art I. 52 The metal with which tea-chests are lined, familiarly called *tea-lead, is an alloy principally composed of lead and tin.
1963Punch 8 May 675/1, I..fetched the *tea machine into the house. 1972J. Thomson Not One of Us xvii. 227, I kept..some paper cups. I used to nick them from the tea machine at the warehouse.
1814Jane Austen Mansf. Park III. vii. 160 There was..found a chair, and with some hasty washing of the young *tea-maker's, a cup and saucer. 1842Penny Cycl. XXIV. 286/1 The process..as practised in Assam and Java by the Chinese tea-makers. 1868Holme Lee B. Godfrey ii, The parson asked the tea-maker for another cup. 1900Daily News 18 Sept. 6/3 It is put into a perforated receiver, suspended in the ‘tea-maker’, and boiling water poured over it. 1961‘T. Hinde’ For Good of Company xix. 214 Mary had switched on the bedside tea-maker. 1970Sunday Times 20 Dec. 26/3 When the clock on the tea-maker began to go backwards its owners got their alarm call and a nice pot of tea at three a.m.
1826(title) Tsiology; a discourse on Tea. Being an account of that exotic,..*Tea-making... By a Tea Dealer. 1833T. Hook Parson's Dau. i. xii, The operation, which, at Cambridge, is not called by so gentle a term as tea-making. 1888Encycl. Brit. XXIII. 100/1 In Chinese tea-making that juice is squeezed out of the leaves. 1894M. Dyan All in a Man's K. (1899) 207 Without a falter she performed the dainty little service of tea-making.
1914Y. Noguchi Through Torii 2 It is the high art of the *tea-master to make you really taste the water beside the taste of the tea. 1974Times Lit. Suppl. 25 Oct. 1190/3 In Kamakura for the first time a tea master did the tea ceremony for me.
1897St. James's Gaz. 18 Feb. 11/1 The posting of bills for soirees and *tea-meetings.
1906E. Dyson Fact'ry 'Ands xvii. 225 We're..puttin' down er mill that'll..never look fer *tea money. 1962L. Deighton Ipcress File i. 11 The office tea money. 1979Rydge's (Sydney) Apr. 68/2, I observed a case in Thailand, where payoffs are euphemistically called tea-money.
1824Scott St. Ronan's xxxiv, To secure the necessary degree of crowd upon her *tea-nights, Lady Penelope was obliged to employ some coaxing.
1837R. D. Thomson in Brit. Ann. 358 *Tea oil. 1838T. Thomson Chem. Org. Bodies 439 Tea oil is expressed from the seeds of the Camellia oleifera.
1952M. Steen Phoenix Rising vi. 117 An over-powering fragrance of *tea-olive rose from under her window. 1975Country Life 2 Jan. 39/3 The grassy glade leading from river to house..heavy with the scent of tea olive..and banana tree.
1938New Yorker 12 Mar. 47/1 All *tea pads, or marijuana joints, use the blue lamps and nickel machines to induce and sustain the hashish mood. 1963Lancet 9 Nov. 989/2 For a few years the cult of the ‘tea pad’..threatened to be imported from the United States.
1814F. Burney Let. 28 Oct. (1978) VII. 488 If you write to me again upon a scrap that can hardly arrive—I shall answer upon a bit of *Tea paper. 1884Birmingham Daily Post 23 Feb. 3/4 Lithographic printers. Wanted, a man..well up in Tea-paper and Commercial Work. 1929D. H. Lawrence Let. 11 Jan. (1932) 780 We were in Toulon yesterday..and went to the same *tea-place. 1978P. Marsh et al. Rules of Disorder iii. 72 At the back there you can see down to the tea place underneath.
1862M. D. Colt Went to Kansas iii. 48 Have arranged on them..our five tin plates, two tin cups, one tin tumbler, the nine *tea-plates. 1972Country Life 9 Mar. 547/3 These plates were made by the Britannia China Company..between 1895 and 1906. Such plates were known as..tea plates.
1728Chambers Cycl. s.v. Punch, Punch Royal. Milk-Punch. *Tea-Punch.
1890Pall Mall G. 1 Oct. 2/3 The *tea-rolling machine represented in our view..is the first *tea-roller which has been used on English soil.
c1702C. Fiennes Journeys (1947) iv. 359 Another little closet with the tea equipage and under that was such a little *tea roome within the drawing roome. c1748Richardson Let. in Corr. (1804) III. 317 Miss Chudleigh is gone into the tea-room. 1796F. Burney Camilla I. 167 They were proceeding to the tea-room. 1884Pall Mall G. 26 Sept. 2/2 Even a tea-room compromise [between political parties] would be welcome at the present moment. 1970[see nelly2 3]. 1976New Society 29 Jan. 227/2 Sentences for what are known in America as ‘tearoom’ offences—homosexual sodomy or oral copulation—vary.
1690Evelyn Diary 11 Mar., I much admired the contortions of the *Thea root, which was so perplexed, large, and intricate.
1727–41Chambers Cycl. s.v. Sage, Kinds..used and cultivated by us are the *Tea-Sage, or Sage of Virtue [etc.].
1761Dunn in Phil. Trans. LII. 185 An artificial horizon of sweet oil in a *tea-saucer.
1845Florist's Jrnl. 207 Coupe de Hebe (*tea-scented). 1849Florist 318 Tea-scented Roses cannot be cultivated with success as border Roses, unless in the extreme south and west of England.
1852Mundy Our Antipodes (1857) 13 Shady paths,..winding among the ‘*tea-scrub’, or skirting the rocky shores [at Sydney].
1884Encycl. Brit. XVII. 746/2 *Tea-seed oil is a commercial product in China, where it is used for food, lighting, and soap-making. 1951E. David French Country Cooking 220 Tea seed oil. Much lighter than olive oil and preferred by many for salads.
1809A. Burr Private Jrnl. (1903) I. 253 A splendid *tea service of silver and two cups. 1838J. Romilly Diary 26 Feb. (1967) 140 Treated myself with a new tea Service for the occasion (cost 5½ Gnas). 1858Simmonds Dict. Trade, Tea-service, Tea-things. 1869Trollope He Knew i, He gave silver cups when the girls were born, and now bestows tea-services as they get married.
1786J. Wedgwood Let. 30 June (1965) 297 A single line of colour put on..while it is in the clay state..upon our beer mugs, flower-pots, *tea and coffee sets..constitutes fayence. 1849Lytton Caxtons i. iv, I would rather the best tea-set were broken.
1838Mrs. Carlyle Lett. (1883) I. 98 Two *tea-shines went off with éclat.
1859Harper's Mag. Sept. 507/2 You might have seen their sing—ay, and their fine stanch *tea-ships too—any day you chose to stroll down South. 1876Bancroft Hist. U.S. IV. I. 273 The Boston tea-ships had sailed. 1905Westm. Gaz. 11 Nov. 3/1 The servant went out, and, returning with a three-decker tea-ship, asked whether anything else was required.
1704Petiver Gazophyl. iii. xxi, The *Thea Shrub is here Figured. 1798Monthly Mag. July 30/1 The Arabs, to whom we stand indebted for the first accounts of the tea-shrub.
1871Windsor & Eton Express 4 Nov., Two silver *tea-sifters having the Royal crest engraved upon them.
1889Kipling From Sea to Sea (1900) I. 360 The lower stories were full of *tea-stalls and tea-drinkers. 1902Westm. Gaz. 31 Jan. 2/1 The wheeled tea-stall which appears at about four o'clock in all large stations. 1962R. Prawer Jhabvala Get Ready for Battle ii. 94 A tea-stall under a tree built on upturned kerosene tins.
1697in 14th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. ii. (1894) 592 Your Lord who broke the *tea-stand.
1865H. Kingsley Hillyars & Burtons lxii, You should have a *tea-stick, and take them [dogs] by the tail,..and lay on like old gooseberry.
1848S. W. Williams Middle Kingd. xiii. II. 116 Spectacles are cut..from..a variety of rose quartz resembling the cairngorm stone, which the Chinese call cha-tsing, or *tea-stone, from its color. 1860J. Scarth Twelve Yrs. China 5 Shaded..by a huge pair of tea-stone spectacles.
1890Monthly Packet Christmas 188 She..was not sorry to depart to the *tea-tent. 1934‘E. M. Delafield’ Provincial Lady in Amer. 6 Go with Robert..to..Agricultural Show... We.. repair to tea-tent... I drink strong tea and eat chudleighs. 1977Oxf. Diocesan Mag. Oct. 20/2 A tea-tent..apart from affecting the custom of the catering contractors, would give a false picture of the Church as a tea-making machine.
1747H. Walpole Lett. (1846) II. 192 You will think I have removed my philosophy from Windsor with my *tea-things hither. 1869Trollope He Knew xxxi, Dorothy was seated behind the urn and tea-things at a large table.
1741Richardson Pamela II. 223, I hope to join you there by your *Tea-time in the Afternoon. 1749J. Cleland Mem. Woman Pleasure I. 47 He sat down..and all tea-time kept ogling me. 1756Pol. Ballads (1860) II. 332 And now being tea-time..we put on the kettle. 1782F. Burney Cecilia vi. iii, Sometimes he appeared again at tea-time. 1889‘J. S. Winter’ Mrs. Bob (1891) 46, I shall be back before tea-time. 1936Punch 19 Feb. 204/1 It's still tea-time, you know. 1963Times 31 Jan. 3/3 In the evening of life—or at any rate the tea-time—it is occasionally pleasant to look back.
1738Swift Pol. Conversat. iii. 200 Lady Smart mistakes the *Tea-tongs for the Spoon. 1797Nicholson's Jrnl. Nat. Philos. I. 63 Bended up in the figure of a pair of tea-tongs.
1863S. S. Jones Northumberland 116 The guid lady shakes her lap an' rubs an' scrapes at her gown wi' the *tea-towel. c1909D. H. Lawrence Collier's Friday Night (1934) ii. 55 Beatrice:..You want to wrap it in a damp cloth now. Have you got a cloth? Ernest: What?—a clean tea-towel? 1980Habitat Catal. 1980/81 111/1 Honeycomb weave teatowel. Pure cotton. Excellent for easy drying up.
c1748Richardson Let. in Corr. (1804) III. 317, I thought..you were of the party at the *tea-treats. 1898C. P. Penberthy Warp & Woof of Cornish Life 153 Whas our lil tay-trait to a townser? Ibid. 168 Go long up tay-trait field. 1977West Briton 25 Aug. 22/6 Mr. Ken Roberts..said 150 traditional tea-treat buns would be distributed free to children on the estate.
1937A. Thirkell Summer Half x. 275 Mrs. Keith had then bought an excellent *tea-trolley with rubber wheels and ball bearings. 1958J. Cannan To be a Villain i. 24 A tea-trolley now stood laden with sandwiches, cakes and buttered buns. 1980Times 13 Nov. 4/8 The tea trolley is being wheeled back.
1786Cowper Let. to Lady Hesketh 24 Dec., You may purchase..a *tea-urn. 1808T. Macgill Trav. I. xviii. 231 The Russian tea-urns..are made of brass..in place of an iron heater, they have long tubes, into which live charcoal is put. a1948D. Welch Voice through Cloud (1950) i. 9 This noble room was spoilt by a counter with sizzling tea-urns.
1840R. H. Dana Two Yrs. before Mast xxxiv. 428 Like a true English ‘*tea-wagon’. 1878Appleton's Jrnl. Jan. 9/2 The good, heavy-bowed, square-countered ‘tea-wagons’, as the sailors call them, meant for cumbrous freight, heavy stowage, and long passages. 1921Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 30 Mar. 18/2 A neat Tea Wagon, in walnut finish, fitted with a moveable glass tray top, and mounted on four rubber tired wheels. 1939J. B. Priestley Let People Sing ii. 23 The magazine boy..called to the tea-wagon girl: ‘Come and 'ave a look.’ 1978D. Bloodworth Crosstalk xv. 122 Don't tell me the tea wagon's come and gone already?
1766J. Wedgwood Let. 15 Sept. (1965) 42 The *Teaware, vases, and all other pretty things I shall let alone until I have the pleasure of seeing you here. 1825J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 483 The insides of tea-ware are well washed with a liquid which forms, when fired, a thin coating of glass.
1693Southerne Maid's last Prayer iii. iii, Betty, set on the *Tea-water. 1818Scott Hrt. Midl. xxvi, Breakfast wi' us yoursell—ye ken how to manage thae porringers of tea-water.
1892Walsh Tea (Philad.) 203 A pleasing drink is also prepared by treating the ordinary infusion with a little yeast and sugar, a *tea-wine being produced from it.
1909H. G. Wells Tono-Bungay ii. ii. 176 My aunt too, looking bright and pretty, in a blue-patterned tea-wrap.
1931Ann. Rep. Dept. Agric. Nyasaland 1930 32 *Tea Yellows—Investigations into this disease have been carried out. 1958T. Eden Tea ix. 91 Tea yellows, caused by sulphur deficiency, is less severe under shade trees than in open situations.
Hence (nonce-wds.) ˈteaey a., having the characteristic properties of tea; ˈteaish a., resembling or relating to tea; ˈteaism, addiction to tea.
1890Spectator 3 May, We believe Indian tea has conquered because it is the most *tea-ey of teas.
1836Tait's Mag. III. 572 The *teaish propensities of her inamorato. 1904E. Nesbit Phœnix & Carpet vii. 134 The meal..was not exactly tea. Let us call it a tea-ish meal. 1904G. S. Hall Adolescence ix. II. 14 Excessive *teaism, coffeeism, etc.,..to the prejudice of appetite for plain, wholesome nutritives,..jeopard the highest maturation of powers.
▸ tea egg n. (in Chinese cookery) a hard-boiled egg slowly cooked with its shell cracked in a mixture of tea and other flavourings, producing a marbled pattern on the surface of the egg when the shell is removed.
1920Jrnl. Home Econ. 12 291 One of the forms of eggs of which Chinese people are very fond is the so-called ‘*tea eggs’. To prepare these, fresh hen's eggs are hard boiled, the shells cracked, and the eggs then cooked for hours in a mixture of tea infusion, salt, spice, and soy bean sauce. 2002Time Out N.Y. 31 Oct. 30/1 This lady apparently kept the pantry stocked with black-bean tapenade and quail tea eggs.
▸ tea light n. a small, squat candle encased in a circular cup of thin metal, which anchors the wick and contains the wax.
1983Washington Post 3 May b2 (advt.) Hurricane lamp with a ceramic base. Select from assorted floral designs, *tea light included. 2003Church Times 12 Dec. 12/3 When the children come to the altar rail for a blessing they are given tea lights which are then lit round the font. 2006Mail on Sunday (Nexis) 8 Jan. 55 To meet her demand for perpetual bubbling coffee, she uses a tealight candle to keep the brew constantly on the boil.
▪ II. tea, v. colloq.
[f. prec. n.]
1. trans. To supply or regale with tea; to entertain at tea; to give a tea to.
1812Sir R. Wilson Diary (1861) I. 250 General Tormanssow fed us, and the duke tea'd; so the day passed well. 1844J. T. J. Hewlett Parsons & W. xxxvi, I breakfast, tea, and sup my lodgers. 1888Freeman in Stephens Life & Lett. (1895) II. 386 We tea the local body on Wednesday.
2. intr. To drink tea; esp. to take the meal called tea, to have one's tea.
1810G. Betts Diary in K. F. Doughty Betts of Wortham (1912) xxix. 286 Mr. Lee..came and tea-ed here. 1823in Spirit Pub. Jrnls. 551 'Twas moved to proceed To the hall of debate, where my Lady had ‘tea'd!’ 1863–5J. Thomson Sunday at Hampstead iv. i, Eight of us promised to meet here And tea together at five. 1892Furnivall Hoccleve's Minor P. Introd. 47 We dined on the bank opposite Hampton Court and teaed on Tatham's island.
Hence ˈteaing vbl. n. and ppl. a.; also ˈteaer, one who takes tea, or attends a tea-meeting.
1845Ainsworth's Mag. VII. 504 During my ‘teaing’ I was amused with the conversation of my companions. 1852R. S. Surtees Sponge's Sp. Tour xx. (1893) 94 Staying guests have the advantage over mere dining or teaing ones, inasmuch as they cannot well be talked over..as those who go away are. 1874Aldrich Prud. Palfrey xi, Picnics up the river..and innumerable teaings on shore. 1892Sat. Rev. 30 July 141/2 But 270 Congregational teaers would surely require more than eight quarts of milk? |