ream1

[reem] /rim/
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; Middle English rem(e) < Middle French reime, rame < Spanish rezma < Arabic rizmah bale

ream2

[reem] /rim/
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.
  1. to scold or reprimand severely (usually followed by out).
  2. to cheat; defraud.
Origin
1805-15; origin uncertain
Examples from the web for ream
  • Stents, angioplasties, operations to ream out his carotids and one to install an interior defibrillator.
  • He must fill out a ream of papers and answer many questions.
  • He reeled off a ream of statistics to show the scale of the response so far.
  • It is one thing to herald a presumed crisis, though, and to cite a ream of gloomy statistics.
  • It turns out that people never put a full ream into the tray.
  • See ream reciprocating pump: a pump consisting of a piston that moves back and forth or up and down in a cylinder.
British Dictionary definitions for ream

ream1

/riːm/
noun
1.
a number of sheets of paper, formerly 480 sheets (short ream), now 500 sheets (long ream) or 516 sheets (printer's ream or perfect ream). One ream is equal to 20 quires
2.
(often pl) (informal) a large quantity, esp of written matter: he wrote reams
Word Origin
C14: from Old French raime, from Spanish rezma, from Arabic rizmah bale

ream2

/riːm/
verb (transitive)
1.
to enlarge (a hole) by use of a reamer
2.
(US) to extract (juice) from (a citrus fruit) using a reamer
Word Origin
C19: perhaps from C14 remen to open up, from Old English rӯman to widen
Word Origin and History for ream
n.

measure of paper, mid-14c., from Old French reyme, from Spanish 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 (late 15c.) suggests a Dutch influence (cf. Dutch riem), probably borrowed from Spanish during the time of Hapsburg control of Holland. For ordinary writing paper, 20 quires of 24 sheets each, or 480 sheets; often 500 or more to allow for waste; slightly different numbers for drawing or printing paper.

"cream" (obsolete), Old English ream, from Proto-Germanic *raumoz (cf. Middle Dutch and Dutch room, German Rahm), of uncertain origin.

v.

"to enlarge a hole," 1815, probably a southwest England dialectal survival from Middle English reme "to make room, open up," from Old English ryman "widen, extend, enlarge," from Proto-Germanic *rumijanan (cf. Old Saxon rumian, Old Norse ryma, Old Frisian rema, Old High German rumen "to make room, widen"), from *rumaz "spacious" (see room (n.)). Slang meaning "to cheat, swindle" first recorded 1914; anal sex sense is from 1942. To ream (someone) out "scold, reprimand" is recorded from 1950.

Slang definitions & phrases for ream

ream

verb
  1. (also rim) To cheat; swindle, esp by unfair business practice; screw: A new technique for reaming the customers (1914+)
  2. (also ream out) To rebuke harshly; bawl someone out, chew someone out: I've seen him just ream guys out for not getting the job done (WWII armed forces)
  3. (also rim) To stimulate the anus, either orally or with the penis (1942+ Homosexuals)