tea towel

noun

: a cloth for drying dishes

Examples of tea towel in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
They’re covered with tea towels and kitchen clothes. — Baz Bamigboye, Deadline, 13 May 2026 Promptly dry the pan with a paper towel or lint-free tea towel. — Kimberly Holland, Southern Living, 12 May 2026 Gone are the days of laying your dinner plates down on a tea towel or worse, your counters directly. — Kate McGregor, Architectural Digest, 15 May 2026 Years ago, the elderly couple next door started to leave me gift bags of items such as tea towels and candy bars. — R. Eric Thomas, Washington Post, 22 May 2026 See All Example Sentences for tea towel

Word History

First Known Use

1863, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of tea towel was in 1863

Rhymes for tea towel

See All Rhymes for tea towel

Browse Nearby Words

tea tortrix
tea towel
tea tray
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Tea towel.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tea%20towel. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

One-Word Oxymorons: Bittersweet, Spendthrift, and More

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
hangman letters and game
Hangman Lightning Round Figure out which word fits in the blanks.
See All