TUBE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does tube mean? 

• TUBE (noun)
  The noun TUBE has 5 senses:

1. conduit consisting of a long hollow object (usually cylindrical) used to hold and conduct objects or liquids or gases

2. electronic device consisting of a system of electrodes arranged in an evacuated glass or metal envelope

3. a hollow cylindrical shape

4. (anatomy) any hollow cylindrical body structure

5. an electric railway operating below the surface of the ground (usually in a city)

  Familiarity information: TUBE used as a noun is common.

• TUBE (verb)
  The verb TUBE has 4 senses:

1. provide with a tube or insert a tube into

2. convey in a tube

3. ride or float on an inflated tube

4. place or enclose in a tube

  Familiarity information: TUBE used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• TUBE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Conduit consisting of a long hollow object (usually cylindrical) used to hold and conduct objects or liquids or gases

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

tube; tubing

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

conduit (a passage (a pipe or tunnel) through which water or electric wires can pass)

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

blow tube; blowgun; blowpipe; blowtube (a tube through which darts can be shot by blowing)

well point; wellpoint (a perforated tube driven into the ground to collect water from the surrounding area)

venturi (a tube with a constriction; used to control fluid flow (as in the air inlet of a carburetor))

torpedo tube (a tube near the waterline of a vessel through which a torpedo is fired)

test tube (glass tube closed at one end)

drinking straw; straw (a thin paper or plastic tube used to suck liquids into the mouth)

stent (a slender tube inserted inside a tubular body part (as a blood vessel) to provide support during and after surgical anastomosis)

stem (the tube of a tobacco pipe)

speaking tube (a tube for conveying the sound of a voice from one room to another)

siphon; syphon (a tube running from the liquid in a vessel to a lower level outside the vessel so that gravity forces the liquid through the tube)

silencer (short tube attached to the muzzle of a gun that deadens the sound of firing)

pipe; tobacco pipe (a tube with a small bowl at one end; used for smoking tobacco)

pipage; pipe; piping (a long tube made of metal or plastic that is used to carry water or oil or gas etc.)

mouthpiece (the tube of a pipe or cigarette holder that a smoker holds in the mouth)

pea shooter (a straight narrow tube through which pellets (as dried peas) can be blown at a target)

barrel; gun barrel (a tube through which a bullet travels when a gun is fired)

blow tube; blowpipe; blowtube (a tube that directs air or gas into a flame to concentrate heat)

cannula (a small flexible tube inserted into a body cavity for draining off fluid or introducing medication)

capillary; capillary tube; capillary tubing (a tube of small internal diameter; holds liquid by capillary action)

catheter (a thin flexible tube inserted into the body to permit introduction or withdrawal of fluids or to keep the passageway open)

coil (tubing that is wound in a spiral)

chromatography column; column (a vertical glass tube used in column chromatography; a mixture is poured in the top and washed through a stationary substance where components of the mixture are adsorbed selectively to form colored bands)

drain (tube inserted into a body cavity (as during surgery) to remove unwanted material)

hose; hosepipe (a flexible pipe for conveying a liquid or gas)

inner tube (an inflatable rubber tube that fits inside the casing of a pneumatic tire)

cigarette holder (a tube that holds a cigarette while it is being smoked)

Derivation:

tube (place or enclose in a tube)

tubular (constituting a tube; having hollow tubes (as for the passage of fluids))

Sense 2

Meaning:

Electronic device consisting of a system of electrodes arranged in an evacuated glass or metal envelope

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

electron tube; thermionic tube; thermionic vacuum tube; thermionic valve; tube; vacuum tube

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

electronic device (a device that accomplishes its purpose electronically)

Meronyms (parts of "tube"):

electrode (a conductor used to make electrical contact with some part of a circuit)

plate (the positively charged electrode in a vacuum tube)

cathode (a negatively charged electrode that is the source of electrons entering an electrical device)

anode (a positively charged electrode by which electrons leave an electrical device)

control grid; grid (an electrode placed between the cathode and anode of a vacuum tube to control the flow of electrons through the tube)

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

X-ray tube (a vacuum tube containing a metal target onto which a beam of electrons is directed at high energy for the generation of X rays)

triode (a thermionic vacuum tube having three electrodes; fluctuations of the charge on the grid control the flow from cathode to anode which makes amplification possible)

tetrode (a thermionic tube having four electrodes)

television-camera tube; television pickup tube (a tube that rapidly scans an optical image and converts it into electronic signals)

pentode (a thermionic tube having five electrodes)

magnetron (a diode vacuum tube in which the flow of electrons from a central cathode to a cylindrical anode is controlled by crossed magnetic and electric fields; used mainly in microwave oscillators)

klystron (an electron tube used to generate or amplify electromagnetic radiation in the microwave region by velocity modulation)

gas-discharge tube (a tube in which an electric discharge takes place through a gas)

electron multiplier (a vacuum tube that amplifies a flow of electrons)

diode; rectifying tube; rectifying valve (a thermionic tube having two electrodes; used as a rectifier)

acorn tube (a small vacuum tube; used at high frequencies)

Holonyms ("tube" is a part of...):

circuit; electric circuit; electrical circuit (an electrical device that provides a path for electrical current to flow)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A hollow cylindrical shape

Classified under:

Nouns denoting two and three dimensional shapes

Synonyms:

pipe; tube

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

cylinder (a surface generated by rotating a parallel line around a fixed line)

Derivation:

tube (place or enclose in a tube)

Sense 4

Meaning:

(anatomy) any hollow cylindrical body structure

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Synonyms:

tube; tube-shaped structure

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

anatomical structure; bodily structure; body structure; complex body part; structure (a particular complex anatomical part of a living thing and its construction and arrangement)

Domain category:

anatomy; general anatomy (the branch of morphology that deals with the structure of animals)

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

tubule (a small tube)

salpinx (a tube in the uterus or the ear)

cochlea (the snail-shaped tube (in the inner ear coiled around the modiolus) where sound vibrations are converted into nerve impulses by the organ of Corti)

vas; vessel (a tube in which a body fluid circulates)

Derivation:

tubal (of or relating to occurring in a tube such as e.g. the Fallopian tube or Eustachian tube)

tube (place or enclose in a tube)

tube (convey in a tube)

tube (provide with a tube or insert a tube into)

Sense 5

Meaning:

An electric railway operating below the surface of the ground (usually in a city)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

metro; subway; subway system; tube; underground

Context example:

in Paris the subway system is called the 'metro' and in London it is called the 'tube' or the 'underground'

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

railroad; railroad line; railway; railway line; railway system (line that is the commercial organization responsible for operating a system of transportation for trains that pull passengers or freight)

• TUBE (verb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Provide with a tube or insert a tube into

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

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

furnish; provide; render; supply (give something useful or necessary to)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

tube ((anatomy) any hollow cylindrical body structure)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Convey in a tube

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Context example:

inside Paris, they used to tube mail

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

bring; convey; take (take something or somebody with oneself somewhere)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

tube ((anatomy) any hollow cylindrical body structure)

tubing (conduit consisting of a long hollow object (usually cylindrical) used to hold and conduct objects or liquids or gases)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Ride or float on an inflated tube

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Context example:

We tubed down the river on a hot summer day

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

ride (be carried or travel on or in a vehicle)

Sentence frames:

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

Sense 4

Meaning:

Place or enclose in a tube

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

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

enclose; enfold; envelop; enwrap; wrap (enclose or enfold completely with or as if with a covering)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

tube (conduit consisting of a long hollow object (usually cylindrical) used to hold and conduct objects or liquids or gases)

tube ((anatomy) any hollow cylindrical body structure)

tube (a hollow cylindrical shape)

 Context examples 

The fallopian tubes, ovaries, and supporting ligaments of the uterus.

(Appendage of the Uterus, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

Your airways are tubes that carry air in and out of your lungs.

(Asthma, NIH: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)

Exactly. A volcanic tube full of blue clay.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

It would take about 80 tubes of blood to match what the wire is able to sample in 20 minutes.

(Magnetic Wires May Soon Be Used in Your Veins to Detect Cancer Earlier, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

The research demonstrated a link between quats and neural tube birth defects in both mice and rats.

(Common Household Chemicals Lead to Birth Defects in Mice, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

A substance being studied in the treatment of bacterial infections from catheters (flexible tubes used to deliver fluids into or take fluids from the body).

(minocycline-EDTA, NCI Dictionary)

A rare cancer of the uterus, ovary, or fallopian tubes.

(Mixed Mesodermal (Mullerian) Tumor, NCI Dictionary)

Also called gastric feeding tube and NG tube.

(Nasogastric tube, NCI Dictionary)

Administration of a drug through the nose and into the stomach, usually by means of a tube.

(Nasogastric Route of Administration, NCI Thesaurus)

For example, a nasogastric tube is inserted through the nose, down the throat and esophagus, and into the stomach.

(Nasogastric, NCI Dictionary)