blubber
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈblʌbə/
ipa: /ˈblʌbəɹ/
ipa: /ˈblʊbəɹ/
ipa: /ˈblʊbə/
rhymes: -ʌbə(ɹ)
Forms: form: blubbers
form: blubbering
form: blubbered
form: blubbered
form: no-table-tags
form: glossary
form: blubber
form: blubber
form: blubbered
form: blubber
form: blubberest
form: blubbered
form: blubberedst
form: blubbers
form: blubbereth
form: blubbered
form: blubber
form: blubbered
form: blubber
form: blubbered
form: blubber
form: -
form: blubbering
form: blubbered
Etymology: The verb is derived from Late Middle English bloberen, bluberen (“to bubble, seethe”); and the noun from Late Middle English blober, bluber (“bubble; bubbling water; foaming waves; fish or whale oil; entrails, intestines; (medicine) pustule”), both probably onomatopoeic, representing the movement or sound of a bubbling liquid, or the movement of lips forming bubbles (compare bleb and blob, thought to be similarly imitative). As both the verb and noun are attested in the 14th century, it is difficult to tell which one developed first; the Oxford English Dictionary suggests that the noun may be derived from the verb.
Verb sense 1.2 (“to cause (one’s face) to disfigure or swell through crying”) is influenced by blubber (adjective).
Senses: examples: text: Here Bliſil ſighed bitterly; upon vvhich VVeſtern, vvhoſe Eyes vvere full of Tears at the praiſe of Sophia, blubbered out, 'Don't be Chicken-hearted, for ſhat ha her, d—n me, ſhat ha her, if ſhe vvas tvventy Times as good.'
ref: 1749, Henry Fielding, “The Arrival of Mr. Western, with Some Matters Concerning the Paternal Authority”, in The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume VI, London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, book XVII, page 104:
glosses: Often followed by out: to cry out (words) while sobbing.
examples: text: Her ſvvollen eyes vvere much diſfigured, / And her faire face vvith teares vvas fovvly blubbered.
ref: 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto I”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 13, page 190:
text: As God sees the water in the spring in the veins of the earth, before it bubble upon the face of the earth; so God sees tears in the heart of a man, before they blubber his face; God hears the tears of that sorrowful soul, which for sorrow cannot shed tears.
ref: a. 1632 (date written), John Donne, “Sermon LIII. Preached upon the Penitential Psalms.”, in Henry Alford, editor, The Works of John Donne, D.D., […], volume II, London: John W[illiam] Parker, […], published 1839, →OCLC, page 488:
text: Dear Cloe, how blubber'd is that pretty Face? / Thy Cheek all on Fire, and Thy Hair all uncurl'd: […]
ref: 1718, Mat[thew] Prior, “A Better Answer”, in Poems on Several Occasions, London: […] Jacob Tonson […], and John Barber […], →OCLC, stanza I, page 96:
text: [S]he haſtily retired, taking vvith her her little Girl, vvhoſe eyes vvere all over blubbered at the melancholy Nevvs ſhe heard of Jones, vvho uſed to call her his little VVife, and not only gave her many Playthings, but ſpent vvhole Hours in playing vvith her himſelf.
ref: 1749, Henry Fielding, “The Generous and Grateful Behaviour of Mrs. Miller”, in The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume VI, London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, book XVII, page 97:
text: The opening of the first grammar-school was the opening of the first trench against monopoly in church and state; the first row of trammels and pothooks which the little Shearjashubs and Elkanahs blotted and blubbered across their copy-books, was the preamble to the Declaration of Independence.
ref: 1870, James Russell Lowell, “New England Two Centuries ago”, in Among My Books, Boston, Mass.: Fields, Osgood, & Co., →OCLC, page 242:
glosses: To wet (one's eyes or face) by crying; to beweep; also, to cause (one's face) to disfigure or swell through crying.
examples: text: Looke on this tree, vvhich blubbereth Amber gum / vvhich ſeemes to ſpeak to thee, though it be dumb, / VVhich being ſenceles blocks, as thou do'ſt ſee, / VVeepe at my vvoes, that thou might'ſt pitty mee: […]
ref: [1595], Michael Drayton, Endimion and Phœbe. Ideas Latmus, London: […] Iames Roberts, for Iohn Busbie, →OCLC, signature C2, verso:
text: Behold her novv in humble guiſe, / Upon her knees vvith dovvncaſt eyes / Before the Prieſt: ſhe thus begins, / And ſobbing, blubbers forth her ſins; […]
ref: 1720, John Gay, “[Tales.] The Mad-dog. A Tale.”, in Poems on Several Occasions, volume II, London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], and Bernard Lintot, […], →OCLC, page 335:
glosses: Often followed by forth: to let (one's tears) flow freely.
examples: text: What weepe? fye for ſhame, and blubber? for manhods ſake, / Neuer lette your foe ſo muche pleaſure of you take.
ref: c. 1552 (date written), Nicholas Udall, [Ralph Roister Doister], [London]: [s.n.], published 1566?; republished as Edward Arber, editor, Roister Doister. […] (English Reprints), London: Muir & Paterson, […], 24 July 1869, →OCLC, Act III, scene iiii, page 52:
text: VVhere are you, vvife? my Celia? vvhat, blubbering? / Come, drye thoſe teares, I thinke, thou thought'ſt mee in earneſt?
ref: 1605 (first performance), Ben[jamin] Jonson, Ben: Ionson His Volpone or The Foxe, [London]: […] [George Eld] for Thomas Thorppe, published 1607, →OCLC, Act II, scene vii, signature F2, verso:
text: Euen as a mother ſendeth forth her childe to ſchoole vvith fayre vvords and promiſes, that hath ſlept too long in the morning, and therefore feareth the rodde, vvhen he vveepeth and blubbereth ſhe promiſeth him, all vvill be vvell, becauſe it is not ſo late as he imagineth, […] euen ſo, manie Paſtours of ſoules ſpeake pleaſing things to their ſheepe that are riche and delicate, they promiſe them, vvhen they are dying, and feare hell, that all things ſhall be vvell vvith them, […]
ref: 1642, [Cresacre Moore], “The Pious Home-employmente of Sir Thomas Mores; and His Godly Councels Giuen to His Wyfe and Children.”, in The Life and Death of Sr. Thomas Moore, […], [London?]: [s.n.], →OCLC, section 4, pages 135–136:
text: VVhen he heard me pronounce theſe vvords in our ovvn language, he leaped upon me in a tranſport of joy, hung about my neck, kiſſed me from ear to ear, and blubbered like a great ſchool-boy vvho has been vvhipt.
ref: 1748, [Tobias Smollett], “The Gascon Does Not Use His Victory with All the Moderation that Might have been Expected […]”, in The Adventures of Roderick Random. […], volume II, London: […] [William Strahan] for J[ohn] Osborn […], →OCLC, page 72:
text: Phœbe Mayflower blubbered heartily for company, though she understood but little of what had passed; […]
ref: 1826, [Walter Scott], chapter IV, in Woodstock; Or, The Cavalier. […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green, →OCLC, page 119:
text: But no more of this blubbering now, we are going a-whaling, and there is plenty of that yet to come.
ref: 1851 November 14, Herman Melville, “The Carpet-bag”, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC, page 11:
text: Poor old Diggs is blubbering like a child.
ref: 1857, [Thomas Hughes], “The War of Independence”, in Tom Brown’s School Days. […], Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Macmillan & Co., →OCLC, part I, page 203:
text: They knew that the wall stood and the house was saved, and old Sam was blubbering over old Captain Joe Dickson lying spent almost to death on the veranda where he had been carried.
ref: 1914 November, Mary E[leanor] Wilkins Freeman, “The Outside of the House”, in Edgewater People, New York, N.Y.; London: Harper & Brothers, →OCLC, page 150:
text: Corruption reaps the young; you dread / The menace of ancestral eyes; / Recoiling from the serpent head / Of fate, you blubber in surprise.
ref: 1932–1941, Theodore Roethke, “Feud”, in Open House, New York, N.Y.: Alfred A[braham] Knopf, published 1941, →OCLC, part I, page 4:
synonyms: word: beweep
word: burst into tears
word: cry
word: cry one's eyes out
word: greet
word: shed a tear
word: shed tears
word: squirt some
word: wail
word: weep
glosses: To cry or weep freely and noisily; to sob.
glosses: To bubble or bubble up; also, to make a bubbling sound like water boiling.
Derived terms: word: beblubber
word: beblubbered
word: blub
word: blubberation
word: blubbered
word: blubberer
word: blubbering
word: blubberingly