teaspoon

American

[tee-spoon] / ˈtiˌspun /

noun

a small spoon generally used to stir tea, coffee, etc.
a teaspoonful.

teaspoon British

/ ˈtiːˌspuːn /

noun

a small spoon used for stirring tea, eating certain desserts, etc
Also called: teaspoonful. the amount contained in such a spoon
a unit of capacity used in cooking, medicine, etc, equal to about one fluid dram

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of teaspoon

First recorded in 1680–90; tea + spoon

Compare meaning

How does teaspoon compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

teaspoon vs. tablespoon

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The researchers worked with a small amount of Bennu material, about the size of a teaspoon.

From Science Daily

I wasn’t going to be able to put away another tiny teaspoon till I set things straight.

From Literature

The tiny bag containing Oscar's personalised treatment held 100 million CAR T-cells in just three teaspoons of liquid, and it took only a few minutes to infuse into his bloodstream.

From BBC

The new pyramid says that one meal should contain no more than 10 grams of added sugars, or about 2 teaspoons.

From MarketWatch

It’s no wonder the experience can feel oddly flat or stop-start, punctuated by small panics over whether it was two teaspoons or two tablespoons of red pepper flakes.

From Salon

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023