ream — English Dictionary

Noun

1. Cream; also, the creamlike froth on ale or other liquor; froth or foam in general.

   Usage

   • Northern-England
   • Scotland
   • UK usage
   • dialectal

Verb

1. To cream; mantle; foam; froth.

   Usage

   • Northern-England
   • Scotland
   • UK usage
   • dialectal

   Examples

   a huge pewter measuring pot […] which, in the language of the hostess, reamed with excellent claret

Verb

1. To enlarge (a hole), especially using a reamer; to bore (a hole) wider.

   Usage

   • Transitive

   Synonyms

   rime

2. To remove (material) by reaming.

   Usage

   • Transitive

3. To remove burrs and debris from inside (something, such as a freshly bored hole) using a tool.

   Usage

   • Transitive

   Synonyms

   rime

4. To shape or form, especially using a reamer.

5. To sexually penetrate in a rough and painful way.

   Usage

   • broadly
   • Slang
   • Vulgar
   • from sense of enlarging a hole

6. To yell at or berate.

   Usage

   • Slang

   Synonyms

   ream out

Noun

1. A bundle, package, or quantity of paper, nowadays usually containing 500 sheets. An extremely large quantity of documents, data, or information that supports a claim, investigation, or case.

   Usage

   • broadly
   • Figurative
   • in-plural

   Examples

   The accountants requested reams of financial records.

2. A bundle, package, or quantity of paper, nowadays usually containing 500 sheets. An abstract large amount of something.

   Usage

   • broadly
   • in-plural

   Synonyms

   bunchloadpile

   Examples

   I can't go – I still have reams of work left.

   More examples (1)

   A large language model (LLM), the technology underpinning chatbots like ChatGPT or Anthropic’s Claude, is a type of neural network, a computer program different from typical software. By feeding it reams of data, engineers train the models to spot patterns and predict what “tokens,” or fragments of words, should come next in a given sequence.

Noun

1. a large quantity of written matter

   Broader terms

   large indefinite quantitylarge indefinite amount

   Examples

   he wrote reams and reams

2. a quantity of paper; 480 or 500 sheets; one ream equals 20 quires

   Broader terms

   definite quantity

Verb

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

   Broader terms

   press outexpressextract

   Examples

   ream oranges

2. remove by making a hole or by boring

   Broader terms

   removetaketake awaywithdrawtake offpull

   Examples

   the dentist reamed out the debris in the course of the root canal treatment

3. enlarge with a reamer

   Broader terms

   enlarge

   Examples

   ream a hole