teat

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   the projecting part of a mammary gland through which milk is drawn by a young mammal

   Each calf quickly found a teat and began to nurse.

2. 2
   noun

   an artificial nipple fitted to a bottle for feeding an infant or young animal

   The caregiver sterilized the bottle and teat after every feeding.

3. 3
   noun

   a small projecting nozzle or part resembling a mammary teat

   The liquid flowed through a rubber teat at the end of the tube.

From Middle English tete and Old French tete, probably from a Germanic expressive word for the nipple or breast. It is related to English tit but became the more neutral anatomical and animal-husbandry term, later extending to bottle nipples and similar nozzles.

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