Tee is a small peg or stand used to hold a golf ball above the ground for the first shot on each hole. Golf tees are usually made of wood or plastic, standing a few inches tall with a small cup on top to cradle the ball. Golfers push the tee into the grass, place their ball on top, and then swing their club to drive the ball down the fairway.

The word also refers to the flat area where golfers begin each hole, called the teeing ground or simply the tee. When golfers say they're heading to the tee, they mean the starting spot for that hole.

Beyond golf, a tee appears in other sports. In football, the kicker uses a rubber tee to prop up the ball for kickoffs. In baseball, young players learning to bat sometimes hit the ball off a batting tee rather than trying to hit a pitched ball.

As a verb, tee means to place a ball on a tee. The phrase tee up means to set something up or get it ready, like when you tee up a question for someone to answer easily.