English

Noun

slub ‎(plural slubs)

1. A small thickened portion or knot found on linen yarn, caused by defects.
2. Sludge.
   • 2014 September 7, Natalie Angier, “The Moon comes around again [print version: Revisiting a moon that still has secrets to reveal: Supermoon revives interest in its violent origins and hidden face, International New York Times, 10 September 2014, p. 8]”, in The New York Times:

     According to the reigning hypothesis, about 4.5 billion years ago, shortly after Earth had accreted down into a sphere from its little slub of circumsolar material, another newborn planet [Theia], still shaky on its feet, slammed obliquely into Earth with terrifying force.

3. Fabric fiber produced by slubbing.

Verb

slub ‎(third-person singular simple present slubs, present participle slubbing, simple past and past participle slubbed)

1. To draw and twist fibers in order to prepare them for spinning.

Related terms

• slubber
• slubbing billy

References

• Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., 1989.
• Random House Webster's Unabridged Electronic Dictionary, 1987-1996.