Quantcast
 
Dictionary
Thesaurus
Encyclopedia
Translator
Web
Related Searches
Synonyms
Nearby Words

blubber

 - 5 dictionary results

blub⋅ber

  [bluhb-er]
–noun
1. Zoology. the fat layer between the skin and muscle of whales and other cetaceans, from which oil is made.
2. excess body fat.
3. an act of weeping noisily and without restraint.
–verb (used without object)
4. to weep noisily and without restraint: Stop blubbering and tell me what's wrong.
–verb (used with object)
5. to say, esp. incoherently, while weeping: The child seemed to be blubbering something about a lost ring.
6. to contort or disfigure (the features) with weeping.
–adjective
7. disfigured with blubbering; blubbery: She dried her blubber eyes.
8. fatty; swollen; puffed out (usually used in combination): thick, blubber lips; blubber-faced.
Use blubber in a Sentence
Origin:
1250–1300; ME bluber bubble, bubbling water, entrails, whale oil; appar. imit.

Related forms:
blub⋅ber⋅er, noun
blub⋅ber⋅ing⋅ly, adverb
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2010.
Cite This Source Link To blubber
blub·ber 1   (blŭb'ər)   
v.   blub·bered, blub·ber·ing, blub·bers

v.   intr.
To sob noisily. See Synonyms at cry.
v.   tr.

  1. To utter while crying and sobbing.

  2. To make wet and swollen by weeping.

n.  A loud sobbing.

[Middle English bluberen, to bubble, from bluber, foam.]
blub'ber·er n., blub'ber·ing·ly adv.
blub·ber 2   (blŭb'ər)   
n.  

  1. The thick layer of fat between the skin and the muscle layers of whales and other marine mammals, from which an oil is obtained.

  2. Excessive body fat.

  3. A large sea nettle or medusa.

adj.  Swollen and protruding: blubber cheeks.

[Middle English bluber, foam.]
blub'ber·y adj.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Word Origin & History

blubber 
c.1380, blober "a bubble," probably echoic of bubbling water. Original notion of "bubbling, foaming" survives in the figurative meaning "to cry" (c.1400). Meaning "whale fat" first attested 1664; earlier it was used in ref. to jellyfish (1602).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Science Dictionary
blubber   (blŭb'ər)  Pronunciation Key 
The thick layer of fat between the skin and the muscle layers of whales and other marine mammals. It insulates the animal from heat loss and serves as a food reserve.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Search another word or see blubber on Thesaurus | Reference
FacebookTwitterFollow us:
Partner Sites:
ExpediaHotelsHotwireLife123LiveDailyThe Daily BeastUrbanspoonAsk AnswersBloglinesSendori