BUBBLE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does bubble mean? 

• BUBBLE (noun)
  The noun BUBBLE has 4 senses:

1. a hollow globule of gas (e.g., air or carbon dioxide)

2. a speculative scheme that depends on unstable factors that the planner cannot control

3. an impracticable and illusory idea

4. a dome-shaped covering made of transparent glass or plastic

  Familiarity information: BUBBLE used as a noun is uncommon.

• BUBBLE (verb)
  The verb BUBBLE has 5 senses:

1. form, produce, or emit bubbles

2. flow in an irregular current with a bubbling noise

3. rise in bubbles or as if in bubbles

4. cause to form bubbles

5. expel gas from the stomach

  Familiarity information: BUBBLE used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• BUBBLE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A hollow globule of gas (e.g., air or carbon dioxide)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Hypernyms ("bubble" is a kind of...):

globule (a small globe or ball)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "bubble"):

air bubble (a bubble of air)

foam; froth (a mass of small bubbles formed in or on a liquid)

soap bubble (a bubble formed by a thin soap film)

Derivation:

bubble (expel gas from the stomach)

bubble (form, produce, or emit bubbles)

bubble (flow in an irregular current with a bubbling noise)

bubbly (emitting or filled with bubbles as from carbonation or fermentation)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A speculative scheme that depends on unstable factors that the planner cannot control

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

bubble; house of cards

Context example:

a real estate bubble

Hypernyms ("bubble" is a kind of...):

scheme; strategy (an elaborate and systematic plan of action)

Sense 3

Meaning:

An impracticable and illusory idea

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Context example:

he didn't want to burst the newcomer's bubble

Hypernyms ("bubble" is a kind of...):

fancy; fantasy; illusion; phantasy (something many people believe that is false)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A dome-shaped covering made of transparent glass or plastic

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("bubble" is a kind of...):

covering (an artifact that covers something else (usually to protect or shelter or conceal it))

• BUBBLE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they bubble    ... he / she / it bubbles   
Past simple: bubbled   
Past participle: bubbled   
-ing form: bubbling   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Form, produce, or emit bubbles

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Context example:

The soup was bubbling

Hypernyms (to "bubble" is one way to...):

breathe; emit; pass off (expel (gases or odors))

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "bubble"):

effervesce; fizz; foam; form bubbles; froth; sparkle (become bubbly or frothy or foaming)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Also:

bubble over (overflow with a certain feeling)

Derivation:

bubble (a hollow globule of gas (e.g., air or carbon dioxide))

Sense 2

Meaning:

Flow in an irregular current with a bubbling noise

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Synonyms:

babble; bubble; burble; guggle; gurgle; ripple

Context example:

babbling brooks

Hypernyms (to "bubble" is one way to...):

go; sound (make a certain noise or sound)

Verb group:

gurgle (make sounds similar to gurgling water)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

bubble (a hollow globule of gas (e.g., air or carbon dioxide))

bubbler (a public fountain to provide a jet of drinking water)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Rise in bubbles or as if in bubbles

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Context example:

bubble to the surface

Hypernyms (to "bubble" is one way to...):

arise; come up; go up; lift; move up; rise; uprise (move upward)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Something is ----ing PP

Sense 4

Meaning:

Cause to form bubbles

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Context example:

bubble gas through a liquid

Hypernyms (to "bubble" is one way to...):

alter; change; modify (cause to change; make different; cause a transformation)

Cause:

bubble (form, produce, or emit bubbles)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Sense 5

Meaning:

Expel gas from the stomach

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Synonyms:

belch; bubble; burp; eruct

Context example:

Please don't burp at the table

Hypernyms (to "bubble" is one way to...):

breathe; emit; pass off (expel (gases or odors))

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Derivation:

bubble (a hollow globule of gas (e.g., air or carbon dioxide))

 Context examples 

Such waves are what led scientists to the conclusion, in the fall of 2013, that Voyager had indeed left our sun's bubble, entering a new frontier.

(Sun sends more 'tsunami waves' to Voyager 1, NASA)

It all added up to Earth being inside a bubble of hot gas blown by exploding stars.

(Evidence for supernovas near Earth, NASA)

The dust was traced back to the local interstellar cloud: a nearly empty bubble of gas and dust that our solar system is traveling through with a distinct direction and speed.

(Saturn Spacecraft Samples Interstellar Dust, NASA)

The presence of bubbles of gas in the vascular system; occurrence is related to the entry of air into the venous circulation following trauma or surgery.

(Air Embolism, NCI Thesaurus)

Larger bubbles rise faster through the magma and expand rapidly as the pressure reduces, just like bubbles rising in a glass of fizzy drink; the gas cools down because of the expansion.

(Size matters: if you are a bubble of volcanic gas, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

It is possible that a big star blew the bubble and, because stars are all in motion, subsequently left the scene, escaping detection.

(Herschel sees budding stars and a giant, strange ring, NASA)

A device designed to signal the presence of bubbles in a system.

(Bubble Detector Device Component, NCI Thesaurus)

A characteristic of a medicinal product, specifying that its most predominant agreeable savor detected by the unified sensation of taste and olfactory receptors resembles bubble gum.

(Bubble Gum Flavor, NCI Thesaurus)

All round the hull, in the blackness, the rippling current bubbled and chattered like a little mountain stream.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

On this fire a great cauldron bubbled and simmered, giving forth a rich and promising smell.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)