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bubble

/ˈbʌb.əl/

noun

Meaning

  • A spherically contained volume of air or other gas, especially one made from soapy liquid.

  • A small spherical cavity in a solid material.

    "bubbles in window glass, or in a lens"

  • (by extension) Anything resembling a hollow sphere.

  • Anything lacking firmness or solidity; a cheat or fraud; an empty project.

  • 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.

    "dot-com bubble"

  • The emotional and/or physical atmosphere in which the subject is immersed.

  • An officer's station in a prison dormitory, affording views on all sides.

  • Someone who has been ‘bubbled’ or fooled; a dupe.

  • A small, hollow, floating bead or globe, formerly used for testing the strength of spirits.

  • The globule of air in the chamber of a spirit level.

  • A laugh.

    "Are you having a bubble?!"

  • A Greek.

  • Any of the small magnetized areas that make up bubble memory.

  • The point in a poker tournament when the last player without a prize loses all their chips and leaves the game, leaving only players that are going to win prizes. (e.g., if the last remaining 9 players win prizes, then the point when the 10th player leaves the tournament)

    "Many players tend to play timidly (not play many hands) around the bubble, to keep their chips and last longer in the game."

  • A group of people who are in quarantine together.

Synonyms

ambience,
circumstances,
bubble and squeak,
bubble bath,
giraffe

verb

Meaning

  • To produce bubbles, to rise up in bubbles (such as in foods cooking or liquids boiling).

  • To churn or foment, as if wishing to rise to the surface.

    "Rage bubbled inside him."

  • To rise through a medium or system, similar to the way that bubbles rise in liquid.

  • To cheat, delude.

  • To cry, weep.

  • To pat a baby on the back so as to cause it to belch.

  • To cause to feel as if bubbling or churning.

  • To express in a bubbly or lively manner.

  • To form into a protruding round shape.

  • To cover with bubbles.

  • To bubble in; to mark a response on a form by filling in a circular area (‘bubble’).