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tube

Pronunciation: /tjuːb/
Translate tube | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of tube

noun

  • 1a long, hollow cylinder of metal, plastic, glass, etc. for holding or transporting something, chiefly liquids or gases:a plastic tube is connected to the tap and the beer is ready to be pulled
  • the inner tube of a bicycle tyre.
  • [mass noun] material in a tubular form; tubing:the firm manufactures steel tube for a wide variety of applications
  • 2a thing in the form of or resembling a tube, in particular:
  • a flexible metal or plastic container sealed at one end and having a screw cap at the other, for holding a semi-liquid substance ready for use:a tube of toothpaste
  • a rigid cylindrical container:a tube of Smarties
  • Australian informal a can of beer:a tube of lager
  • [usually with adjective or noun modifier] Anatomy, Zoology, & Botany a hollow cylindrical organ or structure in an animal body or in a plant (e.g. a Eustachian tube, a sieve tube).
  • (tubes) informal a woman’s fallopian tubes:women with blocked tubes
  • a woman’s close-fitting garment, typically without darts or other tailoring and made from a single piece of stretch fabric: [as modifier]:a tube skirt
  • (in surfing) the hollow curve under the crest of a breaking wave: he angled his board to get in the tube
  • informal a cigarette: as soon as the no-smoking light dies she reaches for the tubes
  • 3 (the Tube) British trademark the underground railway system in London:a cross-London trek on the Tube
  • a train running on the Tube:I caught the tube home
  • 4a sealed container, typically of glass and either evacuated or filled with gas, containing two electrodes between which an electric current can be made to flow.
  • a cathode ray tube, especially in a television set: colour tubes for portables
  • (the tube) North American informal television:watching the tube in a country bar
  • North American a thermionic valve.

verb

[with object]
  • 1 (usually as adjective tubed) provide with a tube or tubes: [in combination]:a giant eight-tubed hookah
  • 2 informal fit (a person or animal) with a tube to assist breathing, especially after a laryngotomy.
  • 3 [with adverbial] convey in a tube: the wells were flooded, and this water, tubed off, yielded a supply of 38,000 gallons per hour
  • 4 (tube it) British informal travel on the Tube:we tubed it back to Queensway [no object]:I tubed to St Pancras

Phrases

go down the tube (or tubes)

informal be completely lost or wasted; fail utterly:the country is going slowly and surely down the tubes

Derivatives

tubeless

adjective

tube-like

adjective

Origin:

mid 17th century: from French tube or Latin tubus

tube in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of tube in the US English dictionary

Nearby words

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