Word: bubble Part of Speech: noun 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. Pronunciation: /ˈbʌbəl/, [ˈbʌbəl] ~ [ˈbʌbl̩], /ˈbɐbəl/, [ˈbɐ̞bəl] ~ [ˈbɐ̞bl̩], /ˈbəbəl/ 1. A spherically contained volume of air or other gas in a liquid, commonly a soapy liquid. 2. A small spherical cavity in a solid material. Example: bubbles in window glass, or in a lens 3. Anything resembling a hollow sphere. Labels: broadly 4. Anything lacking firmness or solidity; a cheat or fraud; an empty project. Labels: figuratively Example: Then a soldier […] / Seeking the bubble reputation / Even in the cannon's mouth 5. 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. Example: real estate bubble Example: dot-com bubble 6. 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. Labels: figuratively Example: Thomas, so often West Brom's most positive attacker down their left side and up against Salgado, twice almost burst the bubble of excitement around the ground but he had two efforts superbly saved by Robinson. Example: He’s wrapped up snugly in a cozy bubble of self-regard, talking for his own sake more than anyone else’s. 7. An officer's station in a prison dormitory, affording views on all sides. Example: Later that day, the unit was staffed with only one officer, who was required to stay in the bubble. 8. Someone who has been ‘bubbled’ or fooled; a dupe. Labels: obsolete Example: Gany's a cheat, and I'm a bubble. Example: For no woman, sure, will plead the passion of love for an excuse. This would be to own herself the mere tool and bubble of the man. 9. A small, hollow, floating bead or globe, formerly used for testing the strength of spirits. 10. The globule of air in the chamber of a spirit level. 11. A laugh. Labels: Cockney, slang Example: Are you having a bubble?! 12. A Greek. Labels: Cockney, slang 13. Any of the small magnetized areas that make up bubble memory. Labels: historical 14. In a poker tournament, the point before which eliminated players receive no prize money and after which they do; the situation where all remaining players are guaranteed prize money (in this case, the players are said to have made the bubble); the situation where all remaining players will be guaranteed prize money after some small number of players are eliminated (in this case, the players are said to be on the bubble). Example: Many players tend to play timidly (not play many hands) around the bubble, to keep their chips and last longer in the game. 15. The cutoff point between qualifying, advancing or being invited to a tournament, or having one's competition end. Example: bubble watch 16. A quarantine environment containing multiple people or facilities isolated from the rest of society. Example: "There was an empty room and this is my house," Mark Philip told the Herald. "Where am I supposed to go? Whose bubble am I supposed to infect?" 17. The people who are in this quarantine. 18. Ellipsis of travel bubble. Labels: abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis 19. A bulb or lamp; the part of a lighting assembly that actually produces the light. Labels: slang Example: A bare lamp (bulb, globe, 'bubble') radiates light in all directions. 20. A specialized glass pipe having a sphere-shaped apparatus at one end.