ream

1 of 2

noun

1
: a quantity of paper being 20 quires or variously 480, 500, or 516 sheets
2
: a great amount
usually used in plural
reams of information

ream

2 of 2

verb

reamed; reaming; reams

transitive verb

1
a
: to widen the opening of (a hole) : countersink
b(1)
: to enlarge, shape, or smooth out (a hole) with a reamer
(2)
: to enlarge the bore of (something, such as a gun) in this way
c
: to remove by reaming
2
a
: to press out with a reamer
b
: to press out the juice of (a fruit, such as an orange) with a reamer
3
4
: reprimand
often used with out
reams out his players so severelyAlexander Wolff

Examples of ream in a Sentence

Verb He got reamed in the press for his comments. reamed a whole new generation of suckers with a variation of the Ponzi scheme
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
Investigators say his devices held hundreds of thousands of digital files, including reams of CSAM and communications with other members of 764. Ali Winston, WIRED, 13 Mar. 2024 On their head, another ream of tartan was twisted with black tulle that, from a distance, resembled a flowing mass of dark knotted hair. Leah Dolan, CNN, 4 Mar. 2024 The former president's lawyers have sought access to reams of classified material, leading to extensive motions filed under seal and a closed two-day hearing. Greg Allen, NPR, 1 Mar. 2024 That could mean months and months of major swing-state stumping, millions of dollars in ads filling the airwaves, reams of daily headlines and protracted battles between the two candidates, their campaigns and their surrogates. Tal Axelrod, ABC News, 30 Jan. 2024 The community is also the site of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's controversial buoy barrier in the Rio Grande and one of many spots along the border where the Texas National Guard has deployed reams of concertina wire on the river banks. USA TODAY, 3 Jan. 2024 Tech industry and digital rights groups have argued that in addition to depriving children of positive online resources, the measures slyly force companies to collect vast reams of data to comply with their age vetting requirements. Cristiano Lima-Strong, Washington Post, 1 Mar. 2024 For their part, Republicans dismissed the notion that Russia had attempted to support Trump, despite reams of open-source evidence showing that Russian operatives had in fact sought to do just that. Nina Jankowicz, Foreign Affairs, 7 Feb. 2024 Among the reams of evidence that the Times submitted in support of its claims is a 127-page exhibit that includes 100 examples of OpenAI’s GPT-4 outputting verbatim lengthy passages from Times articles when prompted with just a sentence, or part of a sentence, from the original. Jeremy Kahn, Fortune, 2 Jan. 2024
Verb
For Wags, that means reaming out Winston (Will Roland), who has quit Michael Prince Capital and attempted to pitch his own risk management software to Prince's competitors. Kyle Fowle, EW.com, 28 Aug. 2023 As the Washington Examiner’s Byron York points out, there are explicit Justice Department guidelines that forbid Smith from trying to influence an election — though, if the mainstream press yawns and the presiding judge fails to ream him out, there is not much that can be done. Andrew C. McCarthy, National Review, 6 Jan. 2024 Even after getting reamed out by his fellow-Republicans, Tuberville refused to relent on his blockade. Susan B. Glasser, The New Yorker, 2 Nov. 2023 Teams reaming in the men's NCAA tournament face off Thursday night with a spot in the Elite Eight on the line. Nicole Fallert, USA TODAY, 23 Mar. 2023 Nelson remembers getting reamed by a coach for the cross-up. Nick Piecoro, The Arizona Republic, 27 Feb. 2023 During our Wednesday phone calls, Freddie would ream me out for bad posture. Sandra Sobieraj Westfall, Peoplemag, 18 Jan. 2023 There are a multitude of tools to ream or swage the crimp out of the primer pocket. Bryce M. Towsley, Field & Stream, 23 June 2020 But when you get reamed in a sketch or online or however, that s--t stings. Kayla Keegan, Good Housekeeping, 22 Dec. 2019

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'ream.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English reme, from Anglo-French, ultimately from Arabic rizma, literally, bundle

Verb

perhaps from Middle English *remen to open up, from Old English rēman; akin to Old English rȳman to open up, rūm space — more at room

First Known Use

Noun

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1815, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Time Traveler
The first known use of ream was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near ream

Cite this Entry

“Ream.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ream. Accessed 29 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

ream

1 of 2 noun
1
: a quantity of paper that may equal 480, 500, or 516 sheets
2
: a great amount
usually used in plural
reams of notes

ream

2 of 2 verb
: to shape, make larger, or smooth out with a reamer
Etymology

Noun

Middle English reme "a quantity of paper," from early French reme (same meaning), from Arabic rizma, literally, "bundle"

Verb

probably from Old English rēman "to open up"

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