tube

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See also:Tubeandtubé

English

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EnglishWikipediahas an article on:
Wikipedia

Etymology

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FromMiddle Frenchtube,fromLatintubus(“tube, pipe”),related totuba(“long trumpet; war-trumpet”),of obscure ultimate origin, but possibly connected totībia(“shinbone, reed-pipe”),see there.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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tube(pluraltubes)

  1. Anything that ishollowandcylindricalin shape.
    • 1879,R[ichard] J[efferies],chapter 1, inThe Amateur Poacher,London:Smith, Elder, & Co.,[…],→OCLC:
      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 deadlytubewas levelled at them.
  2. An approximatelycylindricalcontainer, usually with acrimpedend and a screw top, used to contain and dispensesemiliquidsubstances.
    Atubeof toothpaste.
  3. (British,colloquial,often capitalised asTube,a trademark)TheLondon Undergroundrailwaysystem,originally referred to the lower level lines that ran intubulartunnelsas opposed to the higher ones which ran inrectangularsection tunnels. (Oftenthe tube.)
    I took thetubeto Waterloo and walked the rest of the way.
    • 1962October, “The Victoria Line”, inModern Railways,page217:
      The economist also observed that some of the Victoria Line's cost should be debited to existing lines, as they would benefit from the rebuilding of their interchange stations with the newtube.
    1. (obsolete)One of the tubular tunnels of the London Underground.
      • 1929,Sir Arthur Conan Doyle,The Disintegration Machine‎[1]:
        And thus it came about that on that October morning I found myself in the deep leveltubewith the Professor speeding to the North of London in what proved to be one of the most singular experiences of my remarkable life.
  4. (Australia,slang)A tin can containing beer.
    • 1995,Sue Butler,Lonely Planet Australian Phrasebook: Language Survival Kit:
      Tinnie: a tin of beer — also called atube.
    • 2002,Andrew Swaffer, Katrina O'Brien, Darroch Donald,Footprint Australia Handbook: The Travel Guide[text repeated inFootprint 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-coldtube") reinforces my contention.
  5. (surfing)A wave which pitches forward when breaking, creating a hollow space inside.
  6. (Canada,US,colloquial)Atelevision.Comparecathode ray tubeandpicture tube.
    Synonyms:(derogatory)boob tube,(British)telly
    • 1976,Paddy Chayefsky,Network,spoken by Howard Beale (Peter Finch):
      Right now, there is a whole, an entire generation that never knew anything that didn't come out of thistube.Thistubeis the gospel, the ultimate revelation; thistubecan make or break presidents, popes, prime ministers; thistubeis the most awesome goddamn propaganda force in the whole godless world,[…]
    • 1994,Billie Joe Armstrong (lyrics and music), “Longview”, inDookie,performed by Green Day:
      I sit around and watch thetube,but nothing's on. I change the channels for an hour or two.
  7. (Scotland,slang)Anidiot.
    • 2007,Christopher Brookmyre,Attack of the Unsinkable Rubber Ducks,→ISBN,page231:
      'Don't be a bloodytube,Jack,' she told me. (I always loved it when she used Scottish terms of abuse in that English accent of hers.)
    • 2010,Karen Campbell,The Twilight Time,→ISBN:
      I'matube?Who got done for speeding? Who got lifted for bloody assault?

Usage notes

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Use forbeer canwas 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

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Derived terms

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Translations

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Verb

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tube(third-person singular simple presenttubes,present participletubing,simple past and past participletubed)

  1. (transitive)To supply with, or enclose in, a tube.
    Shetubeslipstick in the cosmetics factory.
  2. To ride aninner tube.
    Theytubeddown the Colorado River.
  3. (medicine,transitive,colloquial)Tointubate.
    The patient wastubed.

See also

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Anagrams

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Estonian

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Noun

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tube

  1. partitivepluraloftuba

French

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Etymology

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FromLatintubus(“tube, pipe”).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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tubem(pluraltubes)

  1. pipe
  2. tube
  3. (informal,music)ahit
    Chacune de ses chansons était untube.―Every one of his/her songs was ahit.
  4. (slang)money

Derived terms

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Descendants

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  • →Romanian:tub
  • →Turkish:tüp

Further reading

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Anagrams

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Italian

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Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key):/ˈtu.be/
  • Rhymes:-ube
  • Hyphenation:tù‧be

Noun

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tubef

  1. pluraloftuba

Latin

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Pronunciation

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Noun

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tube

  1. vocativesingularoftubus

Middle French

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Etymology

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FromLatintubus.

Noun

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tubem(pluraltubes)

  1. conduit;canal;pipe

Descendants

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References

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  • Godefroy, Frédéric,Dictionnaire de l’ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes duIXeauXVesiècle(1881)(tube,supplement)

Scots

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Alternative forms

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Pronunciation

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Noun

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tube(pluraltubes)

  1. wanker,asshole,dickhead
    • 1994,Irvine Welsh,Acid House:
      Come ahead then, ya fuckin weedjie cunts. Ah’m no exactly gaunny burst oot greetin cause some specky cunt’s five minutes late wi ma feed now, um uh? Fuckingtube.
      (pleaseadd an English translationof this quotation)
    • 2013,Pedro Lenz, translated by Donal McLaughlin,Naw Much of a Talker,Freight Books, page 4:
      Sorry but Uli's just atube[translatingPajass]but. Ah didnae say that tae Paco, o course. Ah keep it tae masel jist.
      (pleaseadd an English translationof this quotation)
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