Link Centre Dictionary

bubble

UK/ˈbəbəl/ US/ˈbʌbəl/ fairly common slang uk
noun (4) verb (3)

noun

1.

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

2.

a speculative scheme that depends on unstable factors that the planner cannot control

  • “his proposal was nothing but a house of cards”
  • “a real estate bubble”
Synonyms
3.

an impracticable and illusory idea

  • “he didn”
  • “s bubble”
4.

a dome-shaped covering made of transparent glass or plastic

verb

1.

form, produce, or emit bubbles

  • “The soup was bubbling”
2.

flow in an irregular current with a bubbling noise

  • “babbling brooks”
Synonyms
3.

expel gas from the stomach

  • “In China it is polite to burp at the table”
Synonyms

Origin

Partly imitative, also influenced by burble. Compare Middle Dutch bobbe (“bubble”) > Dutch bubbel (“bubble”), Low German bubbel (“bubble”), Danish boble (“bubble”), Swedish bubbla (“bubble”). The word was first used in its economic sense in association with the collapse of the South Sea Company in 1720, based on the metaphor of an inflated soap bubble bursting.

Phrases

  • air bubble
  • anger bubble
  • bubble and squeak
  • bubble ass
  • bubble baby disease
  • bubble baby syndrome
  • bubble bath
  • bubble blower
  • bubble in
  • bubble over
  • bubble under
  • bubble up

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

See also

Related verbs

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.