TEACH (taught)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected form: taught   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does Teach mean? 

• TEACH (noun)
  The noun TEACH has 1 sense:

1. an English pirate who operated in the Caribbean and off the Atlantic coast of North America (died in 1718)

  Familiarity information: TEACH used as a noun is very rare.

• TEACH (verb)
  The verb TEACH has 2 senses:

1. impart skills or knowledge to

2. accustom gradually to some action or attitude

  Familiarity information: TEACH used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• TEACH (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An English pirate who operated in the Caribbean and off the Atlantic coast of North America (died in 1718)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

Blackbeard; Edward Teach; Edward Thatch; Teach; Thatch

Instance hypernyms:

buccaneer; pirate; sea robber; sea rover (someone who robs at sea or plunders the land from the sea without having a commission from any sovereign nation)

• TEACH (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they teach    ... he / she / it teaches   
Past simple: taught   
Past participle: taught   
-ing form: teaching   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Impart skills or knowledge to

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

instruct; learn; teach

Context example:

He instructed me in building a boat

Hypernyms (to "teach" is one way to...):

inform (impart knowledge of some fact, state of affairs, or event to)

Cause:

acquire; larn; learn (gain knowledge or skills)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "teach"):

develop; educate; prepare; train (create by training and teaching)

indoctrinate (teach doctrines to; teach uncritically)

drill (teach by repetition)

catechise; catechize (give religious instructions to)

reinforce; reward (strengthen and support with rewards)

spoonfeed (teach without challenging the students)

induct (introduce or initiate)

mentor (serve as a teacher or trusted counselor)

tutor (be a tutor to someone; give individual instruction)

unteach (cause to disbelieve; teach someone the contrary of what he or she had learned earlier)

unteach (cause to unlearn)

ground (instruct someone in the fundamentals of a subject)

lecture; talk (deliver a lecture or talk)

coach; train (teach and supervise (someone); act as a trainer or coach (to), as in sports)

edify; enlighten (make understand)

condition (establish a conditioned response)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Somebody ----s somebody something
Somebody ----s something to somebody
Somebody ----s somebody to INFINITIVE
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Sentence examples:

The parents teach a French poem to the children
The parents teach the children a French poem

Derivation:

teachable (ready and willing to be taught)

teacher (a personified abstraction that teaches)

teacher (a person whose occupation is teaching)

teaching (the activities of educating or instructing; activities that impart knowledge or skill)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Accustom gradually to some action or attitude

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Context example:

The child is taught to obey her parents

Hypernyms (to "teach" is one way to...):

accustom; habituate (make psychologically or physically used (to something))

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody to INFINITIVE

Derivation:

teachable (ready and willing to be taught)

teacher (a personified abstraction that teaches)

teacher (a person whose occupation is teaching)

 Context examples 

What would I have given, to have been sent to the hardest school that ever was kept!—to have been taught something, anyhow, anywhere!

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

"Poor little thing! It was hard upon her when she tried so heartily to please me. She was wrong, of course, but then she was young. I must be patient and teach her."

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Your sister taught me; I cannot tell how.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

Since he actually was expected in the country, she must teach herself to be insensible on such points.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

And when Miss Temple teaches you, do your thoughts wander then?

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

I do assure you that my intimacy has not yet taught me that.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

By the powers, but I'll teach you better!

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

“Then we can still find something to teach thee, Alleyne,” said the Abbot complaisantly.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

We were told this when young, and taught to look forward to it as an event that would certainly take place.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

The teaching or training of patients concerning their own health needs.

(Patient Education, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)