boob tube

noun Informal.

Origin:
1965–70; rhyming coinage, from the notion that television programming is foolish, induces foolishness, or is watched by foolish people

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To boob tube

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World English Dictionary

boob tube

—n
1.	a close-fitting strapless top, worn by women
2.	(Austral) a strapless, boneless, shapeless brassiere made of a stretch fabric
3.	chiefly (US), (Canadian) a television receiver

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Relevant Questions

What Are Boob Tubes?

00:10

Boob tube is always a great word to know.

So is gobo. Does it mean:

a screen or mat covered with a dark material for shielding a camera lens from excess light or glare.

a chattering or flighty, light-headed person.

LEARN MORE UNUSUAL WORDS WITH WORD DYNAMO...

Etymonline

Word Origin & History

boob tube

"television set," U.S. slang, mid-1960s, from boob "stupid person" + slang tube "television, television programming," because the sets really did have vacuum tubes in them once upon a time.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Slang Dictionary

boob-tube definition

[ˈbubˈtub]

n.
a television set. (Something for a boobto watch.) : You spend too much time in front of the boob-tube.

Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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"Even in a bamboo tube, a snake still wants to wiggle."

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