tease out

verb

teased out; teasing out; teases out

transitive verb

1
: to obtain by or as if by disentangling or freeing with a pointed instrument
2

Examples of tease out in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Kaluuya and Turner-Smith are electric, teasing out the wrinkles and nuances of what could have been stock characters, and Matsoukas’s direction is, by turns, both dirt-on-the-floor realistic and surprisingly lyrical. Jason Bailey, New York Times, 30 Apr. 2025 Alcohol The research on alcohol and endometriosis is hazy, mostly because studies assessing usage and symptoms can’t typically tease out whether the booze preceded disease progression or if people dealing with the constant pain of endo are more likely to tap alcohol to cope. Erica Sloan, SELF, 25 Apr. 2025 Reality check: More randomized trials are needed, for instance, to tease out potential harms associated with going on and off the GLP-1s, including whether yo-yoing on weight hurts patients, pointed out C. Michael Gibson, a cardiologist who both prescribes and takes a GLP-1. Tina Reed, Axios, 11 Feb. 2025 To tease out the impacts of stress on neutral sensory processing, the study authors turned to mice. Sam Walters, Discover Magazine, 11 Feb. 2025 See All Example Sentences for tease out

Word History

First Known Use

1828, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of tease out was in 1828

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Cite this Entry

“Tease out.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tease%20out. Accessed 16 May. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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