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bub

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bub¹

  • /bʌb/ UK
  • /bɐb/ Australia
  • /bʊb/ Ireland, Northern England

Rhymes with -ʌb

Where it comes from

Probably imitative of the sound of drinking.

noun

  1. historical, slang, uncountable An alcoholic malt liquor, especially beer. Bub is made from ground barley and strong worts, and sometimes from strong small worts from the coolers, properly blended and boiled with some hops, in the proportion of one pound to a barrel of worts.

bub²

  • /bʌb/ UK
  • /bɐb/ Australia
  • /bʊb/ Ireland, Northern England

Rhymes with -ʌb

Where it comes from

Contraction of bubby.

noun bubs

  1. slang A woman's breast. ‘Mr. Blanford, I esteem that there is nothing more sublime in nature than a glimpse of an English lady's bubs.’

bub³

  • /bʌb/ UK
  • /bɐb/ Australia
  • /bʊb/ Ireland, Northern England

Rhymes with -ʌb

Where it comes from

Either a corruption of brother, a modification of bud, or a borrowing from Pennsylvania German Bub or Southern German Bub (as was spoken in various communities in America before the early 20th century), ultimately thought to be derived from Proto-Germanic *bō- (“close [male] relation”) and thus cognate to English boy and babe.

Other probable cognates

West Frisian bobbe, German Bube (“boy”), dialectal Swedish babbe (“little boy”), English babe, baby, and bully, Dutch boef (“mischievous lad, rascal”), Middle Low German bôve, and Icelandic bófi.

noun bubs

  1. A term of familiar address; bubba; bubby. So he changed his brusque manner, and inquired, in a tone which was intended to be extremely conciliatory : ‘ What′s your name, bub ? ’ ‘ The last one, Sir ? ’ asked bub, looking up.
  2. A young brother; a little boy; a familiar term of address for a small boy.

bub⁴

  • /bʌb/ UK
  • /bɐb/ Australia
  • /bʊb/ Ireland, Northern England

Rhymes with -ʌb

Where it comes from

Perhaps from Northern dialectal English bab, from Middle English bab, a variant of babe (“babe, baby”).

noun bubs

  1. Australia, slang A baby.

bub⁵

  • /bʌb/ UK
  • /bɐb/ Australia
  • /bʊb/ Ireland, Northern England

Rhymes with -ʌb

Where it comes from

Shortened from bubble and bubbly.

noun bubs

  1. abbreviation, clipping Clipping of bubble
  2. abbreviation, clipping, slang Clipping of bubbly; champagne. You find me in da club, bottle full of bub

verb bubs · bubbing · bubbed

  1. obsolete To throw out in bubbles; to bubble. We passed on so far forth till we saw Rude Acheron, a loathsome lake to tell, That boils and bubs up swelth as black as hell

Bub⁶

Where it comes from

Borrowed from German Bub.

proper noun Bubs

  1. A surname from German.

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Cite this
MLA

"bub." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/bub. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

bub. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/bub

Chicago

"bub." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/bub.

BibTeX
@misc{bub_2026,
  title = {bub},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/bub},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}