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Glite Dictionary
to choose up teams

to choose up teams

1 4.4
Divide a group into two teams by taking turns picking people
  • phrasal verb
  • Archaic
translation icon : elegir equipos
  • Before we start the game, let's choose up teams so everyone can participate.

Examples

  • I'd strongly resist being tagged with the "evangelical" label, so I sympathize with the desire to choose up teams.

    Blog text (13)

  • We chose up teams, and so far my team's won seven out of 10 games.

    Macon County Line (1974)

  • Our mother taught us to substitute the word "tiger" for the word "nigger" when the neighborhood gang chose up teams.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • Okay, kids, today we're going to choose up teams for our relay race.

  • During recess, the students began to choose up teams for soccer matches on the playground.

Synonyms

to choose up
vsto choose up teams
  • Archaic
1 7.0

To pick teams or sides for a game

emphasizes taking turns to choose members rather than general splitting
to choose up sides
vsto choose up teams
  • Archaic
1 5.2

Divide people into two teams by picking players one after another

is more general, not stressing alternating picks

Surface Forms

choose up teams infinitive
choosing up teams present participle
chooses up teams third person singular
chose up teams past
chosen up teams past participle

Morphology

choose + up + team

The core meaning (selecting people to form teams) is clearly signalled by 'choose' + 'team', so learners who know those words will grasp the general idea. However, the particle 'up' encodes the procedural sense of dividing/picking until teams are formed (often by taking turns), which is a more language-specific, somewhat idiomatic use and may not be fully predictable to a B1 learner without exposure.

Etymology

Choose up teams may come from the playground practice where two captains take turns to choose players, calling 'you're up' when it is their turn to pick. That's why it means 'to divide a group into two sides for a game'.