/ tiːtʃ; NAmE / verb ( taught , taught / tɔːt; NAmE /)
1.
to give lessons to students in a school, college, university, etc.; to help sb learn sth by giving information about it :
[ v ]
She teaches at our local school.
He taught for several years before becoming a writer.
[ vn ]
I'll be teaching history and sociology next term.
( NAmE )
to teach school (= teach in a school)
[ vn , vnn ]
He teaches English to advanced students.
He teaches them English.
2.
to show sb how to do sth so that they will be able to do it themselves :
[ vn to inf ]
Could you teach me to do that?
[ vn wh- ]
My father taught me how to ride a bike.
[also vn ]
3.
to make sb feel or think in a different way :
[ vn to inf ]
She taught me to be less critical of other people.
[ vn that ]
My parents taught me that honesty was always the best policy.
[ vnn ]
Our experience as refugees taught us many valuable lessons.
[also v that ]
4.
[ no passive ] ( informal ) to persuade sb not to do sth again by making them suffer so much that they are afraid to do it :
[ vn to inf ]
Lost all your money? That'll teach you to gamble.
I'll teach you to call (= punish you for calling) me a liar!
[ vnn ]
The accident taught me a lesson I'll never forget.
•
IDIOMS
- teach your grandmother to suck eggs
- (you can't) teach an old dog new tricks
••
VOCABULARY BUILDING
teach and teacher
Verbs
teach
John teaches French at the local school.
•
She taught me how to change a tyre.
educate
Our priority is to educate people about the dangers of drugs.
instruct
Members of staff should be instructed in the use of fire equipment.
train
She's a trained midwife.
•
He's training the British Olympic swimming team.
coach
He's the best football player I've ever coached.
•
She coaches some of the local children in maths.
( BrE )
tutor
She tutors some of the local children in math.
( NAmE )
Nouns
teacher
school / college teachers
instructor
a swimming / science instructor
trainer
a horse trainer
•
Do you have a personal trainer?
coach
a football coach
tutor
tutors working with migrant children
••
WORD ORIGIN
Old English tǣcan show, present, point out , of Germanic origin; related to token , from an Indo-European root shared by Greek deiknunai show, deigma sample.