teem

/tim/

/tim/

Other forms: teeming; teemed; teems

If your neighborhood seems to teem with cats, that means there are a lot of cats running around. When something teems, it swarms or overflows with a large number of things.

Don't confuse teem with team. The two words may sound the same, but they have different meanings. Use the noun team when describing a group of people with a common goal, and turn to the verb teem for those times when you need to say that something is overflowing or crowded. Teem is almost always used with the preposition with, as when the busy streets teem with activity.

Definitions of teem

1. verb

   be teeming, be abuzz
   “The plaza is teeming with undercover policemen”

   synonyms: pullulate, swarm

   types:

   crawl

   be full of

   type of:

   buzz, hum, seethe

   be noisy with activity
2. verb

   move in large numbers
   synonyms: pour, pullulate, stream, swarm

   types:

   pour out, spill out, spill over

   be disgorged

   type of:

   crowd, crowd together

   to gather together in large numbers