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View synonyms for tub

tub

[ tuhb ]

noun

  1. a broad, round, open, wooden container, usually made of staves held together by hoops and fitted around a flat bottom.
  2. any of various containers resembling or suggesting a tub:

    a tub for washing clothes.

  3. the amount a tub will hold.
  4. Informal. a short and fat person.
  5. Nautical. an old, slow, or clumsy vessel.
  6. British Informal. a bath in a bathtub.
  7. Mining. an ore car; tram.
  8. Military Slang. a two-seat aircraft, especially a trainer.


verb (used with object)

, tubbed, tub·bing.
  1. to place or keep in a tub.
  2. British Informal. to bathe in a bathtub.

verb (used without object)

, tubbed, tub·bing.
  1. British Informal. to bathe oneself in a bathtub.
  2. Informal. to undergo washing, especially without damage, as a fabric:

    This cotton print tubs well.

tub

/ tʌb /

noun

  1. a low wide open container, typically round, originally one made of wood and used esp for washing: now made of wood, plastic, metal, etc, and used in a variety of domestic and industrial situations
  2. a small plastic or cardboard container of similar shape for ice cream, margarine, etc
  3. See bath
    Also calledbathtub another word (esp US and Canadian) for bath 1
  4. Also calledtubful the amount a tub will hold
  5. a clumsy slow boat or ship
  6. informal.
    (in rowing) a heavy wide boat used for training novice oarsmen
  7. Also calledtramhutch
    1. a small vehicle on rails for carrying loads in a mine
    2. a container for lifting coal or ore up a mine shaft; skip


verb

  1. informal.
    to wash (oneself or another) in a tub
  2. tr to keep or put in a tub

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Derived Forms

  • ˈtubber, noun
  • ˈtubbable, adjective

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Other Words From

  • tubba·ble adjective
  • tubber noun
  • tublike adjective
  • under·tub noun
  • un·tubbed adjective

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Word History and Origins

Origin of tub1

1350–1400; Middle English tubbe (noun) < Middle Dutch tobbe; cognate with Middle Low German tubbe, tobbe

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Word History and Origins

Origin of tub1

C14: from Middle Dutch tubbe

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Example Sentences

To mimic these conditions in the lab, the researchers added nutrients to spur bacterial growth in the tubs in which the animals were living.

Then, there’s one with about 60 percent Earth’s density, still fluffy enough to float if you could put it in a tub of water, and the final planet is Jupiter-like.

Even if we slow the flow of water to a trickle, the tub will eventually fill up and water will come spilling out onto the floor.

From Time

If you create a nightly routine of keeping your phone out of sight and out of mind while you’re in the tub, you may be able to disrupt your instinct to check it or think about notifications—allowing you to actually calm down.

So obviously, the following should be taken with a tub of salt.

From Digiday

On one summer lunch hour, Donna Ann Levonuk, 50, lifted a tub of diaper cream priced at $43.98—and then stashed it in her purse.

The tub used in the birth was not approved for medical use and is difficult to disinfect.

This past winter, my partner and I rented a small house in rural Vermont with a gorgeous clawfoot tub.

My partner got in the “tub” first and I leaned back on her so she could give me the old reacharound.

Foul-mouthed chauvinist who flirted with chicks in a hot tub or celebrity-friendly sociopolitical satirist?

Very soon afterwards a mollusca had been captured, and placed in a tub filled with sea water.

The nurse should not touch the outside of the tub with infected articles while putting these in the disinfectant.

One of the most curious sights of Madrid is the great wash-tub of the Manzanares.

It was as big as a tub, and the golden spoon in the saucer beside the cup was so heavy the boy could scarcely lift it.

I feel mad enough to pull out my yellowest feathers, or upset my bath-tub.

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