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blubber

blub·ber

UK/ˈblʌbə/ US/ˈblʌbəɹ/ uncommon archaic informal obsolete
verb (2) noun (2)

verb

1.

cry or whine with snuffling

  • “Stop snivelling--you got yourself into this mess!”
Synonyms
2.

noun

1.

an insulating layer of fat under the skin of whales and other large marine mammals; used as a source of oil

2.

excess bodily weight

  • “she found fatness disgusting in herself as well as in others”
Synonyms
Antonyms

Origin

The verb is derived from Late Middle English bloberen, bluberen (“to bubble, seethe”); and the noun from Late Middle English blober, bluber (“bubble; bubbling water; foaming waves; fish or whale oil; entrails, intestines; (medicine) pustule”), both probably onomatopoeic, representing the movement or sound of a bubbling liquid, or the movement of lips forming bubbles (compare bleb and blob, thought to be similarly imitative). As both the verb and noun are attested in the 14th century, it is difficult to tell which one developed first; the Oxford English Dictionary suggests that the noun may be derived from the verb. Verb etymology 1, verb sense 1.2 (“to cause (one’s face) to disfigure or swell through crying”) is influenced by blubber (adjective).

Phrases

  • blubber fish
  • sea blubber

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.