English Explanatory Dictionary

bubble

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A spherically contained volume of air or other gas, especially one made from soapy liquid.
  2. A small spherical cavity in a solid material.
  3. Anything resembling a hollow sphere.
  4. Anything lacking firmness or solidity; a cheat or fraud; an empty project.
  5. A period of intense speculation in a market, causing prices to rise quickly to irrational levels as the metaphorical bubble expands, and then fall even more quickly as the bubble bursts.
  6. The emotional or physical atmosphere in which a subject is immersed; especially, a homogeneous atmosphere in which subjects are spared exposure to culture or ideas different from their own.
  7. An officer's station in a prison dormitory, affording views on all sides.
  8. Someone who has been ‘bubbled’ or fooled; a dupe.
  9. A small, hollow, floating bead or globe, formerly used for testing the strength of spirits.
  10. The globule of air in the chamber of a spirit level.
  11. A laugh.
  12. A Greek.
verb
  1. To produce bubbles, to rise up in bubbles (such as in foods cooking or liquids boiling).
  2. To churn or foment, as if wishing to rise to the surface.
  3. To rise through a medium or system, similar to the way that bubbles rise in liquid.
  4. To cover or spread with bubbles
  5. To delude, dupe, or hoodwink; to cheat.
  6. To cry, weep.
  7. To pat a baby on the back so as to cause it to belch.
  8. To cause to feel as if bubbling or churning.
  9. To express in a bubbly or lively manner.
  10. To form into a protruding round shape.
  11. To cover with bubbles.
  12. To bubble in; to mark a response on a form by filling in a circular area (‘bubble’).

Pronunciation

/ˈbʌb.l̩/ [ˈbʌ.bl̩] /ˈbʌbl̩/ /ˈbʊb.əl/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-bubble.wav en-us-bubble.ogg

Word forms

bubble bubbles bubbling bubbled

Etymology

Partly imitative, also influenced by burble. Compare Middle Dutch bobbe (“bubble”) > Dutch bubbel (“bubble”), Low German bubbel (“bubble”), Danish boble (“bubble”), Swedish bubbla (“bubble”). The word was first used in its economic sense in association with the collapse of the South Sea Company in 1720, based on the metaphor of an inflated soap bubble bursting.

Synonyms

bull circumstances ambience giraffe bubble bath bubble and squeak

Antonyms

antibubble

Derived words

abubble air bubble anger bubble anti-bubble antibubble bubbleable bubble and squeak bubble ass bubble baby disease bubble baby syndrome bubble bath bubble blower bubble boy bubble boy disease bubble boy syndrome bubble brain bubble-brained bubble butt bubble cake bubble car bubble chamber bubble company bubble dance bubble envelope bubble era bubble fusion bubble gum bubblegum bubble-gum bubble gut bubble guts bubblehead bubble-head bubbleheaded bubblejet bubbleless bubble letter bubble level bubblelike bubble mailer bubblement bubble pack bubble perm bubble-pink bubble pipe bubble position bubbler bubble ring bubble romper bubble sheet bubble shell bubble snail bubblesome bubble sort bubble switch bubblet bubble tap bubble tea bubble team bubbletop
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