“bubbles” is a form of
bubble
/ˈbʌbəl/ noun, verb
Forms bubbles bubbling bubbled
- noun A spherically contained volume of air or other gas in a liquid, commonly a soapy liquid.
- noun A small spherical cavity in a solid material. “bubbles in window glass, or in a lens”
- noun (by extension) Anything resembling a hollow sphere.
- noun (figurative) Anything lacking firmness or solidity; a cheat or fraud; an empty project.
- noun (economics) A period of intense speculation in a market, causing prices to rise quickly to irrational levels as the metaphorical bubble expands, and then fall even more quickly as the bubble bursts. “real estate bubble”
- noun (figurative) The emotional or physical atmosphere in which a subject is immersed; especially, a homogeneous atmosphere in which subjects are spared exposure to culture or ideas different from their own.
- noun An officer's station in a prison dormitory, affording views on all sides.
- noun (obsolete) Someone who has been ‘bubbled’ or fooled; a dupe.
- verb (intransitive) To produce bubbles, to rise up in bubbles (such as in foods cooking or liquids boiling). “The laminate is bubbling.”
- verb (intransitive, figurative) To churn or foment, as if wishing to rise to the surface. “Rage bubbled inside him.”
- verb (intransitive, figurative) To rise through a medium or system, similar to the way that bubbles rise in liquid.
- verb (transitive, obsolete, rare) To cover or spread with bubbles
- verb (transitive, archaic, rare) To delude, dupe, or hoodwink; to cheat.
- verb (intransitive, Scotland and Northern England) To cry, weep.
- verb (transitive) To pat a baby on the back so as to cause it to belch.
- verb (transitive) To cause to feel as if bubbling or churning.
Synonyms
bull circumstances ambience giraffe bubble bath bubble and squeak house of cards ripple babble guggle burble gurgle burp belch eruct
Antonyms
Etymology
Partly imitative, also influenced by burble. Compare Middle Dutch bobbe (“bubble”) > Dutch bubbel (“bubble”), Low German bubbel (“bubble”), Danish boble (“bubble”), Swedish bubbla (“bubble”). The word was first used in its economic sense in association with the collapse of the South Sea Company in 1720, based on the metaphor of an inflated soap bubble bursting.
Webster’s 1913
- noun A thin film of liquid inflated with air or gas; as, a soap bubble; bubbles on the surface of a river.
- noun A small quantity of air or gas within a liquid body; as, bubbles rising in champagne or aërated waters.
- verb To rise in bubbles, as liquids when boiling or agitated; to contain bubbles.
- verb To run with a gurdling noise, as if forming bubbles; as, a bubbling stream. Pope.
Etymology [Cf. D. bobbel, Dan. boble, Sw. bubbla. Cf. Blob, n.]
Etymology [Cf. D. bobbelen, Dan. boble. See Bubble, n.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “bubble”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details