- teach
- /ti:tS/ past tense and past participle taught
verb
1 SCHOOL/COLLEGE ETC (I, T) to give lessons in a school, college, or university: Guy's been teaching in France for 3 years now. | teach English/mathematics/history etc: Janet teaches science at a local school. | teach sth to sb: I'm teaching English to Italian students. | teach school/college etc AmE (=teach in a school etc): My Dad taught school in New York.2 SHOW SB HOW (T) to show someone how to do something: teach sb (how) to do sth: My father taught me to swim. | Hamad is teaching me how to play the guitar. | teach sb sth: Can you teach me one of your card tricks?3 CHANGE SB'S IDEAS (T) to show or tell someone how they should behave or what they should think: teach sb to do sth: When I was young, children were taught to treat older people with respect. | teach sb sth: The trouble is that parents don't teach their kids the difference between right and wrong.4 EXPERIENCE SHOWS STH (T) if an experience or situation teaches you something, it helps you to understand something about life: teach sb to do sth: Poverty taught us to appreciate the little things in life.5 that'll teach you! spoken used when something unpleasant has just happened to someone because they ignored your warning: that'll teach you to do sth: That'll teach you to park your car in a restricted area!6 teach sb a lesson informal to punish someone to make sure that they will not behave badly again: Next time he comes home drunk lock him out, that'll teach him a lesson.7 you can't teach an old dog new tricks used to say that older people often do not want to change the way they do things8 teach your grandmother (to suck eggs) BrE to give someone advice about something that they already knowUSAGE NOTE: TEACH WORD CHOICE: teach, instruct, coach, tutor, train, educate Teach is the general word for helping a person or group of people to learn something: He teaches German at a local school. | Mom taught me to drive. If you instruct someone you usually teach them, especially in a practical way and about a practical skill: First of all you'll be instructed in the use of the safety equipment. In British English you can coach a person, often outside the ordinary educational system, and often in a particular subject that they need additional help with: She coaches kids in advanced Mathematics, usually in their homes. In American English, you tutor someone when they need help learning a particular subject: tutoring in reading and arithmetic. People also may coach a person or team to become better in a sport: Greg's coaching the football team this year. You can train a person or group of people, especially in particular skills and knowledge, up to a necessary level for a job: It takes several years to train a doctor. | Soldiers are trained to kill. You can also train an animal: The dogs are trained to attack any stranger that comes near. Educate means to teach people over a long period of time, in all kinds of knowledge (not just school subjects). Educating someone is sometimes compared with training them in skills for jobs. He was educated at Eton. | Parents should educate their children in how to behave. | The government's campaign aims to educate everyone about AIDS. GRAMMAR Teach is not usually used with about except when it is transitive: Children need to be taught about drugs. | She taught us about the new computer system (but NOT She taught about the new computer system). Remember the past tense and past participle forms are taught, never teached.
Longman dictionary of contemporary English. 2004.
