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Webster 1913 Edition


Tube

Tube

,
Noun.
[L.
tubus
; akin to
tuba
a trumpet: cf F.
tube
.]
1.
A hollow cylinder, of any material, used for the conveyance of fluids, and for various other purposes; a pipe.
2.
A telescope.
“Glazed optic tube.”
Milton.
3.
A vessel in animal bodies or plants, which conveys a fluid or other substance.
4.
(Bot.)
The narrow, hollow part of a gamopetalous corolla.
5.
(Gun.)
A priming tube, or friction primer. See under
Priming
, and
Friction
.
6.
(Steam Boilers)
A small pipe forming part of the boiler, containing water and surrounded by flame or hot gases, or else surrounded by water and forming a flue for the gases to pass through.
7.
(Zool.)
(a)
A more or less cylindrical, and often spiral, case secreted or constructed by many annelids, crustaceans, insects, and other animals, for protection or concealment. See Illust. of
Tubeworm
.
(b)
One of the siphons of a bivalve mollusk.
Capillary tube
,
a tube of very fine bore. See
Capillary
.
Fire tube
(Steam Boilers)
,
a tube which forms a flue.
Tube coral
.
(Zool.)
Same as
Tubipore
.
Tube foot
(Zool.)
,
one of the ambulacral suckers of an echinoderm.
Tube plate
, or
Tube sheet
(Steam Boilers)
,
a flue plate. See under
Flue
.
Tube pouch
(Mil.)
,
a pouch containing priming tubes.
Tube spinner
(Zool.)
,
any one of various species of spiders that construct tubelike webs. They belong to
Tegenaria
,
Agelena
, and allied genera.
Water tube
(Steam Boilers)
,
a tube containing water and surrounded by flame or hot gases.

Tube

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Tubed
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Tubing
.]
To furnish with a tube;
as, to
tube
a well
.

Webster 1828 Edition


Tube

TUBE

,
Noun.
[L. tubus.] A pipe; a siphon; a canal or conduit; a hollow cylinder, either of wood, metal or glass, used for the conveyance of fluids, and for various other purposes.
1.
A vessel of animal bodies or plants, which conveys a fluid or other substance.
2.
In botany, the narrow hollow part of a monopetalous corol, by which it is fixed to the receptacle.
3.
In artillery, an instrument of tin, used in quick firing.

TUBE

,
Verb.
T.
To furnish with a tube; as, to tube a well.

Definition 2024


Tube

Tube

See also: tube and tubé

English

Proper noun

Tube

  1. (informal) The London Underground

Translations

Anagrams


German

Pronunciation

Noun

Tube f (genitive Tube, plural Tuben)

  1. tube (container)
  2. Fallopian tube

Derived terms

  • Zahnpastatube f

tube

tube

See also: Tube and tubé

English

Noun

tube (plural tubes)

  1. Anything that is hollow and cylindrical in shape.
    • 1879, Richard Jefferies, The Amateur Poacher, chapter1:
      But then I had the [massive] flintlock by me for protection. ¶ [] The linen-press and a chest on the top of it formed, however, a very good gun-carriage; and, thus mounted, aim could be taken out of the window [], and a 'bead' could be drawn upon Molly, the dairymaid, kissing the fogger behind the hedge, little dreaming that the deadly tube was levelled at them.
  2. An approximately cylindrical container, usually with a crimped end and a **** top, used to contain and dispense semi-liquid substances.
    A tube of toothpaste.
  3. (Britain, colloquial, often capitalized as Tube) The London Underground railway system, originally referred to the lower level lines that ran in tubular tunnels as opposed to the higher ones which ran in rectangular section tunnels. (Often the tube.)
    No mate, I am taking the tube!
  4. (Australia, slang) A tin can containing beer (or other beverage?).
    • 1995, Sue Butler, Lonely Planet Australian Phrasebook: Language Survival Kit
      Tinnie: a tin of beer — also called a tube.
    • 2002, Andrew Swaffer, Katrina O'Brien, Darroch Donald, Footprint Australia Handbook: The Travel Guide [text repeated in Footprint West Coast Australia Handbook (2003)]
      Beer is also available from bottleshops (or bottle-o's) in cases (or 'slabs') of 24-36 cans (‘tinnies' or ‘tubes') or bottles (‘stubbies') of 375ml each.
    • 2004, Paul Matthew St. Pierre, Portrait of the Artist as Australian: L'Oeuvre Bizarre de Barry Humphries
      That Humphries should imply that, in the Foster's ads, Hogan's ocker appropriated McKenzie's discourse (specifically the idiom "crack an ice-cold tube") reinforces my contention.
  5. (surfing) A wave which pitches forward when breaking, creating a hollow space inside.
  6. (Canada, US, colloquial) A television. Also, derisively, boob tube. British: telly.
    Are you just going to sit around all day and watch the tube?

Usage notes

Use for beer can was popularised in UK by a long-running series of advertisements for Foster's lager, where Paul Hogan used a phrase "crack an ice-cold tube" previously associated with Barry Humphries' character Barry McKenzie. (For discussion of this see Paul Matthew St. Pierre's book cited above.)

Hyponyms

  • See also Wikisaurus:tube

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

tube (third-person singular simple present tubes, present participle tubing, simple past and past participle tubed)

  1. To make or use tubes
    She tubes lipstick.
    They tubed down the Colorado River.

See also

Anagrams


French

Etymology

From Latin tubus (tube, pipe).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /tyb/

Noun

tube m (plural tubes)

  1. pipe
  2. tube
  3. (music) a hit
  4. (slang) money

Anagrams


Italian

Noun

tube f

  1. plural of tuba

Latin

Noun

tube

  1. vocative singular of tubus

Middle French

Etymology

Latin tubus.

Noun

tube m (plural tubes)

  1. conduit; canal; pipe

Descendants

References

  • (fr) Godefroy, Frédéric, Dictionnaire de l'ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IXe au XVe siècle (1881) (tube, supplement)

Scots

Alternative forms

  • choob

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /tjub/, /tʃub/

Noun

tube (plural tubes)

  1. wanker, ****, dickhead
    • 1994, Irvine Welsh, Acid House:
      Come ahead then, ya fuckin weedjie ****. Ah’m no exactly gaunny burst oot greetin cause some specky ****’s five minutes late wi ma feed now, um uh? **** tube.
    • 2013, Donal McLaughlin, translating Pedro Lenz, Naw Much of a Talker, Freight Books 2013, p. 4:
      Sorry but Uli's just a tube [transl. Pajass] but. Ah didnae say that tae Paco, o course. Ah keep it tae masel jist.