▪ I. teem, v.1
(tiːm)
Forms: 1 t{iacu}eman, t{yacu}man, t{iacu}man, tǽman, 1–2 teman, 3 timen, tæmenn (Orm.), teamen, tumen(ü), 3–5 temen, 3–6 teme, (4 tem, 5 temyn), 6–7 teeme, 7–8 team, 6– teem.
[OE. t{iacu}eman, etc.:—*taumjan, f. OE. téam:—*taum: see team n.]
I. Belonging to team n. I.
1. trans. To bring forth, produce, give birth to, bear (offspring). Also fig. Obs. or arch.
| c 1000 ælfric Hom. I. 238 Hit bið þonne..þæt ‘Nan wer ne wifað, ne wif ne ceorlað, ne team ne bið ᵹetymed’. Ibid. II. 212 Þæt folc tymde micelne team on ðam westene. c 1200 Ormin 2415 Wurrþenn swa wiþþ childe & tæmenn hire tæm wiþþ himm Alls oþ re wimmenn tæmenn? a 1225 Ancr. R. 220 Two tentacions..þet temeþ alle þe oðre. c 1230 Hali Meid. 33, & cleopeð ham wunne & weolefulle þat teamen hare teames. 1599 Shakes. Hen. V, v. ii. 51 The euen Meade..Conceiues by idlenesse, and nothing teemes But hatefull Docks, rough Thistles, Keksyes, Burres. 1607 ― Timon iv. iii. 179 Common Mother, thou Whose wombe vnmeasureable, and infinite brest Teemes and feeds all. 1654 Gayton Pleas. Notes iii. viii. 126 My Mother,..whose very picture I am, when she teem'd me under the Line. 1667 Milton P.L. vii. 454 The Earth obey'd, and..teem'd at a Birth Innumerous living Creatures. 1675 T. Plume Life Hacket (1865) 8 It was but a small lustre..that the place where any man was teemed could cast upon him. 1786 tr. Swedenborg's True Chr. Relig. x. §585 The earth..being their common mother..brings them forth, that is, teems them from her womb into the open day. |
† 2. intr. To bring forth young, bear or produce offspring; to be or become pregnant. Obs.
| c 1000 ælfric Gen. vi. 4 Godes bearn tymdon wið manna dohtra and hiᵹ cendon. c 1000 ― Hom. I. 250 Fuᵹelas ne tymað swa swa oðre nytenu. Ibid. II. 10 Sindon þeah-hwæðere sume ᵹesceafta þe tymað buton hæmede..; þæt sind beon. a 1023 Wulfstan Hom. xiii. 81 Wa ðam wifum þe þonne tymað. c 1200 Ormin 130 Forr ȝho wass swa bifundenn wif Þatt ȝho ne mihhte tæmenn. a 1225 Ancr. R. 308 Fares & Zaram ne temeð heo neuer. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 982 An angel..seide ȝhe sulde sunen wel And timen, and clepen it Ismael. 1532 More Confut. Tindale Wks. 644/2 Lest it should feble hys fleshe..and hyndre hys harlot of teming. 1591 Troub. Raigne K. John (1611) 15 Thou saist she teemde sixe weekes before her time. 1604 Shakes. Oth. iv. i. 256 If that the Earth could teeme with womans teares, Each drop she falls, would proue a Crocodile. 1607 ― Timon iv. iii. 190. 1636 James Felix's Octavius 91 Except Jupiter be waxed old and Juno hath left off teeming. |
3. intr. To be full, as if ready to give birth; to be prolific or fertile; to abound, swarm. Usually cont. with.
| 1593 [see teeming ppl. a.1 2]. a 1719 Addison (J.), A nation where there is scarce a single head that does not teem with politicks. 1746 Smollett Reproof 28 Hallowed be the mouth That teems with moral zeal and dauntless truth! 1748 Gray Alliance 6 The soil, tho' fertile, will not teem in vain. 1802 Paley Nat. Theol. xxvi. (1819) 404 The air, the earth, the water, teem with delighted existence. 1838–9 Hallam Hist. Lit. II. ii. v. §80. 234 Every canto of this book teems with the choicest beauties of imagination. 1840 Dickens Barn. Rudge lxxvii, The house-tops teemed with people. 1868 E. Edwards Ralegh I. Introd. 33 A mind which..was still teeming with projects for a good time to come. |
II. Belonging to team n. III.
† 4. trans. In Anglo-Saxon law: To refer or trace (property), for evidence of ownership, to a third person representing the party from whom it was acquired; to vouch to warranty. Only OE.
| a 700 Laws Ine c. 47 Gif mon forstolenne ceap befehð, ne mot hine mon tieman [v.r. tyman] to ðeowum men. Ibid. c. 75. a 800, 960–975 [see team n. 7]. |
† 5. intr. To refer or appeal to for confirmation or testimony. to God I teme, I call God to witness. Also trans. To cite or call to witness (quot. c 1200).
| c 1000 ælfric Saints' Lives (1881) I. 58 Benedictus..tymde to þam reᵹole þe Basilius ᵹesette. c 1000 St. Basil's Admonitio Prol. (1849) 32 Benedictus..tymde swa ðeah to Basilies tæcinge for his trumnysse. c 1200 Moral Ode 108 (Trin. MS.) His oȝen werc and his þanc to witnesse he sal temen. a 1300 Cursor M. 5070 (Cott.) And al was for i tald a drem Þat cummen es now, to godd i tem. Ibid. 12797. Ibid. 14791 Þ e bok is wittnes for to tem. |
† 6. intr. To attach oneself (to any one) in fealty, dependence, trust, or love; to turn or draw to. Obs.
| c 1205 Lay. 1265 He bi-heihte hire biheste & he hit wel laste þat to hire he wolde teman [c 1275 hire wolde he louie] & wrchen hire ane temple. Ibid. 16800 Al hit trukeð us an hond þæt we to temden. Ibid. 24816 Ȝif þu i þissen twælf wiken temest to þan rihten and þu wult of Rome þolien æi dome. 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 9546 Al þat euer to Cryst wyl teme, Behoueþ be baptysed yn watyr and creme. 13.. St. Erkenwolde 15 in Horstm. Altengl. Leg. (1881) 266 He turnyd temples þat tyme þat temyd to þe deuelle. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. C. 316 Ȝet surely I hope, Efte to trede on þy temple & teme to þy seluen. c 1400 Destr. Troy 3306 Tho truly þat are takon and temyn to you, Shalbe plesit with plenty at þere playne wille. |
† 7. trans. To acclaim (as lord); to offer or dedicate (to God); to bring into a position or condition.
| c 1205 Lay. 1956 He wes ihaten Brutus..þa Troinisce men þa temden hine to hærre [c 1275 makede hine louerd]. 13.. Cursor M. 6170 (Cott.) Þe forbirth o þair barntem Fra þan þai suld to drightin tem. c 1384 Chaucer H. Fame iii. 654 But myghten temen vs opon bere. |
† 8. intr. or refl. To betake oneself, to repair, go, proceed to; trans. to repair to (q. c 1330). Obs.
| c 1205 Lay. 1245 Albion hatte þat lond..Þer to þu scalt teman [c 1275 wende] & ane neowe Troye þar makian. Ibid. 7174 He hehte Tenancius to Cornwale temen [c 1275 wende]. Ibid. 27919 Arður ȝæf him þene tun and he þer to tumde [v.r. tumbde]. c 1320 Sir Tristr. 431 For drede þai wald him slo, He temed him to þe king. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 11177 Fot-folk þat come to & fro, Innes for to teme & take. |
† b. intr. To lead to (an issue). Obs.
| c 1205 Lay. 9135 Ic wolde iwite æt þe..to whan þis tocne wule ten, to wulche þinge temen. |
▪ II. teem, v.2 Chiefly dial. and techn.
(tiːm)
Forms: 4–6 teme, 5 Sc. teym, 6 Sc. teim, 7 teame, teeme, 7–9 team, 8 tem, 7– teem.
[ME. tēme-n, a. ON. tœma (Sw. tömma, Da. tömme) to empty:—*tômjan, f. tómr empty, toom.]
1. trans. a. To empty (a vessel, etc.); to discharge or remove the contents of; to empty (a wagon, etc.).
| a 1300 Cursor M. 12020 Bath he ditted þe water lade, And temed lakes þat he made. a 1340 Hampole Psalter lxvii. 27 Fayre saules, þat has temyd þaire fleyss, and driyd it of þe humor of syn. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xxv. (Julian) 544 Scho..temyt þe poyttis thre. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 488/1 Temyn or maken empty.., vacuo, evacuo. c 1470 Henry Wallace viii. 213 Saidlys thai teym off hors bot maistris thar. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems xxxviii. 36 The fetteris lowsit and the dungeoun temit. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. iv. (S.T.S.) 204 Quhen he had teimed the hartes of mony of the foul puddil of errour and vice. 1650 H. More Observ. in Enthus. Tri., etc. (1650) 92 Magicus will not stick to teem Urinals on your heads. 1789 Brand Hist. Newcastle II. 684 note, Above ground..two banks⁓men..take off the corves at top, and empty, or, as the work⁓men call it, ‘teem’ them. 1854 A. E. Baker Northampt. Gloss., Teem, to empty, to pour out. ‘Teem the tub.’ |
b. To discharge (something out of or from a vessel, a cart, etc.); to empty out, pour out.
| 1482 Burgh Rec. Edinb. (1869) I. 45 Gudis ventit or temyt in the rade havin or toun of Leith. 1562 Turner Baths 5 They teme or emptye out euel humores. 1648 Herrick Hesper., To Primroses, Just as the modest morne Teem'd her refreshing dew. 1729 Swift Direct. Servants, Butler, You immediately teem out the remainder of the ale into the tankard. 1812 J. J. Henry Camp. agst. Quebec 96 The contents were teemed into a large bason. 1863 Mrs. Gaskell Sylvia's L. II. xv. 13 Better help her t' teem t' milk. 1863 Mrs. Toogood Yorks. Dial., Team the water out of the kettle. 1889 Q. Rev. July 138 Blister steel is..poured or ‘teemed’ into suitable ingot moulds. |
c. absol.
| 1641 Best Farm. Bks. (Surtees) 36 Wee have allwayes one man..whose office is to helpe to teame, that the waines be not hindered. 1855 J. R. Leifchild Cornwall Mines 38 Six men were teaming from the bottom into the pump. 1896 Warwickshire Gloss., This teapot don't teem well. |
d. To drain the water off (boiled potatoes, etc.).
| 1890 in Eng. Dial. Dict. (1905) VI. s.v., sense 8. 1922 Joyce Ulysses 751 Wouldnt even teem the potatoes for you of course shes right not to ruin her hands. 1982 P. McGinley Goosefoot xiii. 210 ‘The potatoes are done.’.. ‘When you've teemed them, we'll all guess the number in the pot.’ |
2. intr. Of water, etc.: To pour, flow in a stream, flow copiously; of rain: to pour.
No longer dial. when used with reference to rain. Perh. associated with teem v.1 3.
| 1828 Craven Gloss. s.v., It rains and teems. a 1846 G. Darley Song, ‘Sweet in her green dell’ ii, Down from the high cliffs the rivulet is teeming. a 1880 Jack & William ii. in Child Eng. & Sc. Pop. Ball. (1884) I. 444/2 The blood was teeming down. 1880 Leeds Mercury 13 Sept. 8 The water then came teeming down the shafts. 1979 J. Grimond Memoirs vii. 105 The rain which seemed to teem down incessantly. 1981 G. Boycott In Fast Lane v. 22 Not just a drop or a shower but three clammy inches in forty-eight hours, teeming out of a slate-grey sky. |
Hence teem n. dial., a ‘pour’, a downpour of rain: see Eng. Dial. Dict.
▪ III. † teem, v.3 Obs. rare—1.
[app. either the simple root-verb of beteem v.1, or perh. more prob. shortened from that vb.]
intr. To think fit, vouchsafe.
| 1593 Gifford Dial. Witches B j b, Alas man, I could teeme it to goe, and some counsell me to goe to the man at T.B. and some to the woman at R.H. |
▪ IV. teem, a.
dial., empty: see toom.
▪ V. teem, -e
obs. or dial. ff. team.