teat

Everyday

1. A teat is the small, soft part on a female mammal's body that her babies suck to get milk; cows, goats and pigs have teats. tree →
2. A teat is the rubber or plastic top of a baby's bottle that the baby sucks. tree →

In the lessons

In science and farm lessons, teats are how mammals feed their young with milk: a cow is milked from her four teats, piglets each find a teat on the sow. At home, a baby's bottle has a teat. Phrases: «the cow's teats», «bottle teat».

Examples

• The calf drank milk from its mother's teat. tree →
• A cow has four teats on her udder. tree →
• The farmer milked the goat's teats by hand. tree →
• Each piglet found a teat and started to drink. tree →
• Mum boiled the bottle teats to keep them clean. tree →
• The baby lamb would not take the teat, so we fed it with a syringe. tree →

Note

Plural «teats». Say «teet». It is a normal science and farm word, not rude. In some places people say «nipple» for the human body part and for a bottle teat (USA: «nipple» for bottle). Trap: «teat» is not «treat» or «tit» (a small bird).