BUBBLE

bubble

(noun) a dome-shaped covering made of transparent glass or plastic

bubble

(noun) an impracticable and illusory idea; “he didn’t want to burst the newcomer’s bubble”

bubble

(noun) a hollow globule of gas (e.g., air or carbon dioxide)

burp, bubble, belch, eruct

(verb) expel gas from the stomach; “Please don’t burp at the table”

bubble

(verb) form, produce, or emit bubbles; “The soup was bubbling”

bubble

(verb) cause to form bubbles; “bubble gas through a liquid”

bubble

(verb) rise in bubbles or as if in bubbles; “bubble to the surface”

ripple, babble, guggle, burble, bubble, gurgle

(verb) flow in an irregular current with a bubbling noise; “babbling brooks”

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Noun

bubble (plural bubbles)

A spherically contained volume of air or other gas, especially one made from soapy liquid.

A small spherical cavity in a solid material.

Anything resembling a hollow sphere.

(economics) 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 (e.g. the South Sea Bubble).

An officer's station in a prison dormitory, affording views on all sides.

(obsolete) Someone who has been ‘bubbled’ or fooled; a dupe.

(figurative) The emotional and/or physical atmosphere in which the subject is immersed.

Synonyms: circumstances, ambience

(Cockney rhyming slang) a Greek (also: bubble and squeak)

A small, hollow, floating bead or globe, formerly used for testing the strength of spirits.

The globule of air in the spirit tube of a level.

Anything lacking firmness or solidity; a cheat or fraud; an empty project.

(Cockney rhyming slang) A laugh (also: bubble bath).

(computing) Any of the small magnetized areas that make up bubble memory.

(poker) The point in a poker tournament when the last player without a prize loses all their chips and leaves the game, leaving only players that are going to win prizes. (e.g, if the last remaining 9 players win prizes, then the point when the 10th player leaves the tournament)

A group of people who are in quarantine together.

Synonyms

• (a laugh) giraffe, bubble bath

Antonyms

• (a spherically contained volume of gas enclosed by a thin film of liquid, or within a volume of liquid): antibubble (a spherically contained volume liquid enclosed by a thin film of gas, or within a volume of gas)

Verb

bubble (third-person singular simple present bubbles, present participle bubbling, simple past and past participle bubbled)

(intransitive) To produce bubbles, to rise up in bubbles (such as in foods cooking or liquids boiling).

(intransitive, figurative) To churn or foment, as if wishing to rise to the surface.

(intransitive, figurative) To rise through a medium or system, similar to the way that bubbles rise in liquid.

(transitive, archaic) To cheat, delude.

(intransitive, Scotland and Northern England) To cry, weep.

(transitive) To pat a baby on the back so as to cause it to belch.

(transitive) To cause to feel as if bubbling or churning.

(transitive) To express in a bubbly or lively manner.

(transitive) To form into a protruding round shape.

(transitive) To cover with bubbles.

(transitive) To bubble in; to mark a response on a form by filling in a circular area (‘bubble’).

Source: Wiktionary


Bub"ble, n. Etym: [Cf. D. bobbel, Dan. boble, Sw. bubbla. Cf. Blob, n.]

1. A thin film of liquid inflated with air or gas; as, a soap bubble; bubbles on the surface of a river. Beads of sweat have stood upon thy brow, Like bubbles in a late disturbed stream. Shak.

2. A small quantity of air or gas within a liquid body; as, bubbles rising in champagne or aërated waters.

3. A globule of air, or globular vacuum, in a transparent solid; as, bubbles in window glass, or in a lens.

4. A small, hollow, floating bead or globe, formerly used for testing the strength of spirits.

5. The globule of air in the spirit tube of a level.

6. Anything that wants firmness or solidity; that which is more specious than real; a false show; a cheat or fraud; a delusive scheme; an empty project; a dishonest speculation; as, the South Sea bubble. Then a soldier . . . Seeking the bubble reputation Even in the cannon's mouth. Shak.

7. A person deceived by an empty project; a gull. [Obs.] "Ganny's a cheat, and I'm a bubble." Prior.

Bub"ble, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Bubbled (; p. pr. & vb. n. Bubbling (.] Etym: [Cf. D. bobbelen, Dan. boble. See Bubble, n.]

1. To rise in bubbles, as liquids when boiling or agitated; to contain bubbles. The milk that bubbled in the pail. Tennyson.

2. To run with a gurdling noise, as if forming bubbles; as, a bubbling stream. Pope.

3. To sing with a gurgling or warbling sound. At mine ear Bubbled the nightingale and heeded not. Tennyson.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

14 November 2024

FRISK

(noun) the act of searching someone for concealed weapons or illegal drugs; “he gave the suspect a quick frisk”


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Coffee Trivia

Coffee dates back to the 9th century. Goat herders in Ethiopia noticed their goats seem to be “dancing” after eating berries from a particular shrub. They reported it to the local monastery, and a monk made a drink out of it. The monk found out he felt energized and kept him awake at night. That’s how the first coffee drink was born.

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