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ream

 - 6 dictionary results

ream

1  [reem]
Use ream in a Sentence
–noun
1. a standard quantity of paper, consisting of 20 quires or 500 sheets (formerly 480 sheets), or 516 sheets (printer's ream or perfect ream).
2. Usually, reams. a large quantity: He has written reams of poetry.
Origin:
1350–1400; ME rem(e) < MF reime, rame < Sp rezma < Ar rizmah bale

ream

2  [reem]
–verb (used with object)
1. to enlarge to desired size (a previously bored hole) by means of a reamer.
2. to clear with a reamer; remove or press out by reaming.
3. to extract the juice from: to ream an orange.
4. Slang.
a. to scold or reprimand severely (usually fol. by out).
b. to cheat; defraud.
Origin:
1805–15; orig. uncert.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To ream
ream 1   (rēm)   
n.  

  1. A quantity of paper, formerly 480 sheets, now 500 sheets or, in a printer's ream, 516 sheets.

  2. A very large amount. Often used in the plural: reams of work to do.


[Middle English reme, from Old French reime, from Old Spanish resma, from Arabic rizma, bundle, from razama, to bundle; see rzm in Semitic roots.]
ream 2   (rēm)   
tr.v.   reamed, ream·ing, reams

  1. To form, shape, taper, or enlarge (a hole or bore, for example) with or as if with a reamer.

  2. To remove (material) by this process.

  3. To squeeze the juice out of (fruit) with a reamer.


[Possibly from Middle English remen, to make room, variant of rimen, from Old English rȳman; see reuə- in Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

ream  (n.)
1356, from O.Fr. reyme, from Sp. resma, from Arabic rizmah "bundle" (of paper), from rasama "collect into a bundle." The Moors brought manufacture of cotton paper to Spain. Early variant rym (1470s) suggests a Du. influence (cf. Du. riem), probably during the time of Spanish Hapsburg control of Holland. Properly, 20 quires or 480 sheets, usually 500 or more to allow for waste. Of paper for printing, 21 and a half quires, or 516 sheets (printers' ream).

ream  (v.)
"to enlarge a hole," 1815, probably a S.W. England dialect survival from M.E. reme "to make room, open up," from O.E. ryman "widen, extend, enlarge," from P.Gmc. *rumijanan (cf. O.S. rumian, O.N. ryma, O.Fris. rema, O.H.G. rumen "to make room, widen"), from *rumaz "spacious" (see room). Slang meaning "to cheat, swindle" first recorded 1914; anal sex sense is from 1942. To ream (someone) out "scold, reprimand" is recorded from 1950.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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