bubble
Part of speech: verb
Morphological type: simple
Topics: computing
engineering
mathematics
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
sciences
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.
Inflected forms:
form: bubbles
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: bubbling
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: bubbled
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: bubbled
pos: verb
tags: past
Senses:
gloss: To produce bubbles, to rise up in bubbles (such as in foods cooking or liquids boiling).
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
examples: The laminate is bubbling.
gloss: To churn or foment, as if wishing to rise to the surface.
pos: verb
tags: figuratively
intransitive
examples: Rage bubbled inside him.
The blood bubbled up to her brain, and made such a sound there, as of boiling waters, that she did not hear the words which Mr. Bradshaw first spoke […]
With some technical improvement, I could see how the process of imitating my work would soon become fast and streamlined, and the many dark potentials bubbled to the forefront of my mind.
gloss: To rise through a medium or system, similar to the way that bubbles rise in liquid.
pos: verb
tags: figuratively
intransitive
examples: The target of this event is the most deeply nested common ancestor of all changes that occurred in the document, and it bubbles up the document tree […]
gloss: To cover or spread with bubbles
pos: verb
tags: obsolete
rare
transitive
gloss: To delude, dupe, or hoodwink; to cheat.
pos: verb
tags: archaic
rare
transitive
examples: No, no, friend, I shall never be bubbled out of my religion in hopes only of keeping my place under another government […]
He tells me with great passion that she has bubbled him out of his youth; that she drilled him on to five and fifty [years old], and that he verily believes she will drop him in his old age, if she can find her account in another.
I need not tell your Worships, that this was done with so much cunning and artifice, —that the great Locke, who was seldom outwitted by false sounds, was nevertheless bubbled here.
gloss: To cry, weep.
pos: verb
tags: Northern-England
Scotland
intransitive
gloss: To pat a baby on the back so as to cause it to belch.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: Groggily her mind went back through the long hours to 10 P.M. She had fed Junior, bubbled him, diped him—according to plan.
I walked him, pushed him, pulled him, and “bubbled” him, drawing the line at changing him, and found that the ability to bring actual happiness to another being’s face, even such a small red one, simply by walking into the room, made me feel ten feet tall.
Mother sat up, picked up baby, put him on shoulder, bubbled him.
gloss: To cause to feel as if bubbling or churning.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: It seemed to Adam that he felt the blood in his toes creeping up his legs and body until it reached his brain where, finding it could go no farther, it bubbled him into dumbness: it added to his confusion to know that he looked as if some such accident had befallen his circulation.
A few minutes more would give him his first glimpse of the village wherein, many months before, he had left his wife and little ones. Anticipation bubbled him into song, and he broke forth into—A la claire fontaine M’en allant promener.
The frothing sensation bubbled him all over, a boiling without heat or any sound or light.
gloss: To express in a bubbly or lively manner.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: Mrs. Hinds beamed at Ipsie through pince-nez and bubbled her joy through thin lips, but Ipsie made no reply.
Delighted with this promenade, little Edith bubbled her joy without cessation.
“She’s a little girl like me,” Beth bubbled. “Her name is Buttons, ’cause she has a small nose. And she has a twin, too, just like me. Only my twin’s name is Carly.”
Rachel bubbled her thanks and brushed past the Reverend, me in tow.
But Ms. Loomat, far from a negative reaction, bubbled her joy at the news even congratulating Ms Lee on her acquisition.
gloss: To form into a protruding round shape.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: She bubbled her lips at Junior and wrinkled her eyes.
She hasn’t bubbled her lips yet, has she?
I didn’t see much connection between the Bunnies and Michelle—something bubbled her blouses, and I’d heard her whisper with my sister about training bras, but her body was angular, skinny.
gloss: To cover with bubbles.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: Her mouth hung slightly open and water droplets bubbled her forehead, like oversized sweat.
Tears of thanksgiving bubbled her eyes and blurred her vision.
Oily beads of sweat bubbled his forehead.
gloss: To bubble in; to mark a response on a form by filling in a circular area (‘bubble’).
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: Cross out answers as you eliminate them, and practice bubbling your answers on the sheet provided at the very end of the book.
They bubbled her answers on Scantron tests, changed her sanitary napkins, helped her get in and out of the bathroom with a minimum of fuss.
You don’t want to go back and forth between the test booklet and your answer sheet to bubble your answers.
gloss: To apply a filter bubble, as to search results.
pos: verb
gloss: To join together in a support bubble
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
gloss: To grass (report criminal activity to the authorities).
pos: verb
tags: UK
slang
transitive
Derived words: bubble under
bubble in
bubble over
bubble up
Translations: