cub

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Cub^¹

noun Cubs

A member of the Cub Scouts.
A player on the team the "Chicago Cubs". Jones became a Cub as the result of a pre-season trade.

cub^²

/kʌb/ US, UK
/kʊb/ Ireland, Northern England

Rhymes with -ʌb

Where it comes from

From earlier cubbe. Origin unknown. According to Pokorny, from Proto-Germanic *kubb-, from Proto-Indo-European *gup- (“round object, knoll”), from *gew- (“to bend, curve, convex, arch, vault”). Related terms include cup (cf. cupboard), coffin, cove, etc, essentially “chamber”, thus cub maybe initially derived from the sense “den”, or maybe “womb”.

A probable cognate is also found in North Germanic: dialectal Swedish kubbe, kybbe, köbbe, kibb, Danish kippe (“calf”). Also compare Icelandic and Old Norse kobbi (“seal”), Old Irish cuib (“whelp”). Compare also English cob.

Originally, the meaning was specifically "young fox", in which sense it has largely replaced English whelp.

noun cubs · cubbe

The young of certain animals, chiefly large carnivorous mammals, including the bear, wolf, fox, lion and tiger. a Childe of Lacedemon suffered all his belly and gutts to be torne out by a Cubbe or young Foxe, which he had stolne, and kept close under his garment, rather then he would discover his theft.
derogatory, humorous A child, especially an awkward, rude, ill-mannered boy. O, thou dissembling cub! what wilt thou be / When time hath sowed a grizzle on thy case?
slang A young man who seeks relationships with older women, or "cougars".
obsolete A stall for cattle. [...] I would rather have such a good mother in cub or kennel, than in my closet, or at my table.
Synonym of cub reporter. Swain has interviewed 67 reporters on 16 metropolitan dailies in 10 cities — from cubs to veterans — who talk candidly […]
Similar: cub reporter
slang A furry character that is a child (i.e. under the age of adulthood).
abbreviation, clipping, slang Clipping of cub porn or cub art Ew, I didn't know he also drew cub...
Northern Ireland, Ulster A boy or young man. A man who reared ten cubs and three cutties.
slang a younger (or younger-looking) "bear" type of man.

verb cubs · cubbing · cubbed · cubbe

To give birth to cubs.
To hunt fox cubs. He knew that, only a few hours from London, the Hunt was cubbing over his ancestral and much-mortgaged acres, while his own horse ate its head off in a stable.
obsolete To shut up or confine. to fall from heaven to hell, to be cubbed up upon a sudden

cub^³

/kʌb/ US, UK
/kʊb/ Ireland, Northern England

Rhymes with -ʌb

noun cubs

abbreviation, acronym Acronym of cashed-up bogan

CUB^⁴

noun CUBs

abbreviation, initialism Initialism of cashed-up bogan

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: sonny boy, laddie, lad, sonny, rookie, greenhorn, young carnivore, baby, novice, pooh, teddy, pussycat, kitten, kitty, unplayful, unlicked

Translations

Every language

noun young fox

Français	renardeau
Deutsch	Fuchswelpe, Fuchsjunges, Fuchsbaby
Italiano	volpino
Română	vulpan
Русский	лисёнок lisjónok
العربية	هِجْرِس hijris, جَرْو jarw

noun the young of certain animals

Español	cachorro, leoncillo, lobezno, lobato, osezno
日本語	子 ko, 幼獣 yōjū
中文	幼獸 /幼兽 yòushòu, 崽 zǎi
हिन्दी	शावक śāvak
Português	filhote, cachorro, cria
Français	petit, cheau, see ourson, renardeau, louveteau, lionceau
Deutsch	Junges, Welpe, Dachsjunges (badger), Bärenjunges, Gepardenjunges, Leopardenjunges (leopard)
Italiano	cucciolo, see bear cub, fox cub, etc
Ελληνικά	σκύμνος skýmnos
Română	pui
Русский	детёныш detjónyš, медвежо́нок medvežónok, лисёнок lisjónok, волчо́нок volčónok, львёнок lʹvjónok, тигрёнок tigrjónok
العربية	شِبْل šibl, دَيْسَم daysam
עברית	גּוּר gur

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Cite this

MLA

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

APA

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

Chicago

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

BibTeX

@misc{cub_2026,
  title = {cub},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/cub},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}

cub