Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Capable of being taught.
  • adjective Able and willing to learn.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Capable of being taught; apt to learn; ready to receive instruction; docile.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Capable of being taught; apt to learn; also, willing to receive instruction; docile.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Capable of being taught; apt to learn.
  • adjective Willing to receive instruction or to learn; docile.
  • adjective That can be taught.
  • adjective Facilitating teaching; instructive.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective ready and willing to be taught

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

teach +‎ -able

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Examples

  • But he decided to use it as what he called a teachable moment to talk to the American people in an adult way about race.

    CNN Transcript Oct 24, 2008 2008

  • "This is what they call a teachable moment," said Robert F. Pezzella, executive assistant to the superintendent for school safety and violence prevention.

    Sports News : CBSSports.com 2009

  • Obama said he hoped the incident could be considered "what we call a teachable moment, where all of us ... spend a little more time listening to each other and try to focus on how we can generally improve relations between police officers and minority communities."

    Newsmax - Inside Cover 2009

  • So this is what you call a teachable moment here right now for Barack Obama.

    Hullabaloo 2009

  • "It really is what we call a teachable moment," Jaroflow said, noting the historic significance of same-sex marriage and related civil rights issues.

    AroundTheCapitol.com 2008

  • "It really is what we call a teachable moment," said Liz Jaroslow, the school's interim director, according to the newspaper.

    WordPress.com News 2008

  • "It really is what we call a teachable moment," Jaroflow said, noting the historic significance of same-sex marriage and related civil rights issues.

    To Form a More Perfect Union: Marriage Equality News 2008

  • "It really is what we call a teachable moment," Jaroflow said, noting the historic significance of same-sex marriage and related civil rights issues.

    Latest Articles 2008

  • And educators tend to think less in terms of justice, and look for what they call teachable moments.

    College Justice Falls Short For Rape Victim 2010

  • How many times did we hear this described as a teachable moment?

    CNN Transcript Jul 30, 2009 2009

Comments

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  • "And those who attend have a responsibility not merely to ensure that a very teachable moment does not pass by unexploited, but to help ensure that the next festival that focuses on a conflict-ridden city or country creates a much stronger intellectual and aesthetic foundation for its programming."

    - Mark Levine, Framing Tel Aviv , aljazeera.net, 13 September 2009.

    September 14, 2009