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Glite Dictionary
teeming

teeming

1 4.7
Full of many living things, often moving about
  • adjective
  • /ˈtiːmɪŋ/
translation icon : rebosante
  • The garden was teeming with colorful flowers and buzzing bees.

It's a big, urban, teeming place full of diversity.

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Examples

  • A tonne of tiny organisms live on our bodies, a teeming microbiome of bacteria, fungi and mites.

  • The water simply passes through the Sea of Galilee in and then out, and that keeps the lake healthy and vibrant, teeming with marine life.

  • So the basic question is, are we alone or is the universe teeming with life?

  • All of this will help us understand whether the universe is teeming with life or whether indeed it's just us.

  • It's a big, urban, teeming place full of diversity.

    ReasonTV

  • But it's actually teeming with life and we won't be able to see it at first.

  • The Galaxy could be teeming with civilizations.

  • The crowd is one enormous, teeming mass of brightly colored humanity.

    Fiction book (2000)

  • And where better to do that than amidst the teeming, faceless masses of the naked city?

    North (1994)

  • In the work of Marin, whose watercolors of the New England landscape were among the best-known images of the Stieglitz circle, critics saw not merely a depiction of mountains or coastline but also an expression of a vibrant, teeming natural world that surrounded the painter as he worked.

    Academic text (2003)

Synonyms

jam-packed
vsteeming
14 3.7

Very full and crowded with almost no space

describes fullness caused by many living beings rather than mere packing
bustling
vsteeming
9 4.1

Full of busy, noisy activity and many people

refers to being full of living beings rather than lively atmosphere
bustling with
vsteeming
3 3.6

Full of people and busy activity

means abundant numbers of living things rather than activity or noise
swarmy
vsteeming
8.7

Full of small flying insects

is about being abundantly full of living things in general
thronged
vsteeming
6.0

A place full of many people standing close together

focuses on being abundantly full with living things rather than just crowds
full to the gills
vsteeming
  • Informal
6.6

Very full after a large meal or in a crowded place

indicates fullness due to many living creatures rather than general stuffing
brimming
vsteeming
3.4

So full that it is almost overflowing, often with a strong feeling

means full because of many living beings rather than feelings or traits

Antonyms

empty
∞ 1.0

Not containing anything

sparse
31 5.0

Present in small numbers or amounts

How Abundant

teeming
1 4.7
crowded
222 1.0
populated
2.5
sparse
31 5.0
empty
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

teeming positive

Morphology

teeming = teem (transparent) = teem + ing

Formed by the productive verb 'teem' plus the agent/participle suffix '-ing'; the adjective meaning 'full of or swarming with' is directly derived from the verb.

Etymology

Teeming comes from the old verb teem, which meant 'to give birth' or 'to produce', so imagine a place that keeps making life. That's why a garden or street that is teeming is full or swarming with people or animals.