tea party
23
1.4
- noun
- /ti ˈpɑrti/
:
fiesta de té
- My grandmother used to organize a charming tea party every summer afternoon in her garden.
- throw a tea party
- little tea party
- mad tea party
Examples
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Are you having a little tea party with Eduardo?
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We had a beautiful tea party at the Manor of Vuklikho.
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We used to have those little tea parties, remember?
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Have a tea party, just you and me.
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Thought we might have a little tea party.
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- Actually, I think this is the perfect environment to hold a beautiful tea party.
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His wife arranged this tea party in your honor.
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It was so nice to see you at the tea party last week.
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I'm having a tea party, Mr. Arkin.
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"Please come to Sydney's tea party at three o'clock tomorrow," he said.
Fiction book (2001)
Synonyms
∞
1.0
An event where people meet to celebrate, eat, and have fun
194
1.0
A light afternoon meal with sandwiches, cakes, and a hot drink
9
1.7
A light meal in the afternoon with tea and small cakes, sandwiches, or scones
How Formal
Surface Forms
Morphology
The political-movement meaning of 'Tea Party' cannot be derived from the literal constituents 'tea' (a drink/social occasion) and 'party' (a celebration/meeting); the phrase in this sense is a culture-specific proper name tied to US political history. A B1 learner who knows both words but lacks background in US politics is unlikely to infer the conservative movement sense, so the expression is idiomatic and unpredictable.
Etymology
Tea party comes from long ago in Britain when people met in the afternoon to drink tea and eat small cakes and sandwiches. That picture of friends sitting together over tea is why tea party means 'a social event where tea and light food are served'.