Meaning & use
tea cozy
Last updated
UK/ˈtiː ˌkəʊzi/
US/ˈtiː ˌkoʊzi/
Meaning
nouncountable
A padded cover, often knitted, that fits over a teapot to keep the tea hot.
Grammar: Takes an article: a tea cozy, the tea cozy.
Patterns
- a tea cozy for something
- put a tea cozy on something
Grandma knitted a red tea cozy for her old teapot.
The tea stayed warm for an hour under the tea cozy.
She slipped the tea cozy over the pot before answering the door.
Word forms
| plural | tea cozies |
|---|
Common combinations
- knit a tea cozy
- I learned to knit a tea cozy last winter.
- under the tea cozy
- The pot kept its heat under the tea cozy.
- a knitted tea cozy
- A knitted tea cozy sat on the table.
- pull off the tea cozy
- She pulled off the tea cozy and poured the tea.
- fit a tea cozy
- Does this tea cozy fit a large pot?
Synonyms and how they differ
- tea cosy
- Tea cosy is the British spelling of exactly the same item.
- pot warmer
- A pot warmer is a wider word that may also mean a heated stand, not only a fabric cover.
- cozy
- Cozy used alone usually describes a cozy feeling, and does not by itself mean a pot cover unless the context makes it clear.
Word family
Commonly confused: tea cozy or coaster?
tea cozy vs coaster
A coaster is a small mat that protects a table from a cup. A tea cozy covers the whole pot.
Practice
To keep the tea hot for a second cup, she put a knitted ______ over the teapot.
Choose one answer.
A tea cozy is a padded cover that keeps the pot warm. A trivet protects a table from a hot pot but does not keep the pot warm.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “tea cozy”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.
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