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tube

Pronunciation: /tuːb/

The English word “tube” has 11 meanings listed here.

noun

  1. Anything that is hollow and cylindrical in shape.
  2. An approximately cylindrical container, usually with a crimped end and a screw top, used to contain and dispense semiliquid substances.
  3. 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.)
  4. One of the tubular tunnels of the London Underground.
  5. A tin can containing beer.
  6. A wave which pitches forward when breaking, creating a hollow space inside.
  7. A television. Compare cathode ray tube and picture tube.
  8. An idiot.

verb

  1. To supply with, or enclose in, a tube.
  2. To ride an inner tube.
  3. To intubate.

Etymology

From Middle French tube, from Latin tubus (“tube, pipe”), related to tuba (“long trumpet; war-trumpet”), of obscure ultimate origin, but possibly connected to tībia (“shinbone, reed-pipe”); see there. Doublet of tubus.

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.