Wiktionary

tube

See also: Tube and tubé

English

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Etymology

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From Middle French tube, from Latin tubus (“tube, pipe”), related to tuba (“long trumpet; war-trumpet”), of obscure ultimate origin, but possibly connected to tībia (“shinbone, reed-pipe”), see there.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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tube (plural tubes)

  1. Anything that is hollow and cylindrical in shape.
    • 1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], chapter 1, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC:
      But then I had the [massive] flintlock by me for protection. ¶ […] The linen-press and a chest on the top of it formed, however, a very good gun-carriage; and, thus mounted, aim could be taken out of the window […], and a 'bead' could be drawn upon Molly, the dairymaid, kissing the fogger behind the hedge, little dreaming that the deadly tube was levelled at them.
  2. An approximately cylindrical container, usually with a crimped end and a screw top, used to contain and dispense semiliquid substances.
    A tube of toothpaste.
  3. (British, colloquial, often capitalised as Tube, a trademark) The London Underground railway system, originally referred to the lower level lines that ran in tubular tunnels as opposed to the higher ones which ran in rectangular section tunnels. (Often the tube.)
    I took the tube to Waterloo and walked the rest of the way.
    • 1962 October, “The Victoria Line”, in Modern Railways, page 217:
      The economist also observed that some of the Victoria Line's cost should be debited to existing lines, as they would benefit from the rebuilding of their interchange stations with the new tube.
    1. (obsolete) One of the tubular tunnels of the London Underground.
      • 1929, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Disintegration Machine‎[1]:
        And thus it came about that on that October morning I found myself in the deep level tube with the Professor speeding to the North of London in what proved to be one of the most singular experiences of my remarkable life.
  4. (Australia, slang) A tin can containing beer.
    • 1995, Sue Butler, Lonely Planet Australian Phrasebook: Language Survival Kit:
      Tinnie: a tin of beer — also called a tube.
    • 2002, Andrew Swaffer, Katrina O'Brien, Darroch Donald, Footprint Australia Handbook: The Travel Guide [text repeated in Footprint West Coast Australia Handbook (2003)]
      Beer is also available from bottleshops (or bottle-o's) in cases (or 'slabs') of 24-36 cans (‘tinnies' or ‘tubes') or bottles (‘stubbies') of 375ml each.
    • 2004, Paul Matthew St. Pierre, Portrait of the Artist as Australian: L'Oeuvre Bizarre de Barry Humphries:
      That Humphries should imply that, in the Foster's ads, Hogan's ocker appropriated McKenzie's discourse (specifically the idiom "crack an ice-cold tube") reinforces my contention.
  5. (surfing) A wave which pitches forward when breaking, creating a hollow space inside.
  6. (Canada, US, colloquial) A television. Compare cathode ray tube and picture tube.
    Synonyms: (derogatory) boob tube, (British) telly
    • 1976, Paddy Chayefsky, Network, spoken by Howard Beale (Peter Finch):
      Right now, there is a whole, an entire generation that never knew anything that didn't come out of this tube. This tube is the gospel, the ultimate revelation; this tube can make or break presidents, popes, prime ministers; this tube is the most awesome goddamn propaganda force in the whole godless world, […]
    • 1994, Billie Joe Armstrong (lyrics and music), “Longview”, in Dookie, performed by Green Day:
      I sit around and watch the tube, but nothing's on. I change the channels for an hour or two.
  7. (Scotland, slang) An idiot.
    • 2007, Christopher Brookmyre, Attack of the Unsinkable Rubber Ducks, →ISBN, page 231:
      'Don't be a bloody tube, Jack,' she told me. (I always loved it when she used Scottish terms of abuse in that English accent of hers.)
    • 2010, Karen Campbell, The Twilight Time, →ISBN:
      I'm a tube? Who got done for speeding? Who got lifted for bloody assault?

Usage notes

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Use for beer can was popularised in UK by a long-running series of advertisements for Foster's lager, where Paul Hogan used a phrase "crack an ice-cold tube" previously associated with Barry Humphries' character Barry McKenzie. (For discussion of this see Paul Matthew St. Pierre's book cited above.)

Hyponyms

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Derived terms

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Translations

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Verb

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tube (third-person singular simple present tubes, present participle tubing, simple past and past participle tubed)

  1. (transitive) To supply with, or enclose in, a tube.
    She tubes lipstick in the cosmetics factory.
  2. To ride an inner tube.
    They tubed down the Colorado River.
  3. (medicine, transitive, colloquial) To intubate.
    The patient was tubed.

See also

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Anagrams

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Estonian

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Noun

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tube

  1. partitive plural of tuba

French

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Etymology

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From Latin tubus (“tube, pipe”).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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tube m (plural tubes)

  1. pipe
  2. tube
  3. (informal, music) a hit
    Chacune de ses chansons était un tube. ― Every one of his/her songs was a hit.
  4. (slang) money

Derived terms

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Descendants

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  • → Romanian: tub
  • → Turkish: tüp

Further reading

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Anagrams

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Italian

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Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈtu.be/
  • Rhymes: -ube
  • Hyphenation: tù‧be

Noun

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tube f

  1. plural of tuba

Latin

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Pronunciation

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Noun

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tube

  1. vocative singular of tubus

Middle French

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Etymology

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From Latin tubus.

Noun

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tube m (plural tubes)

  1. conduit; canal; pipe

Descendants

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References

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  • Godefroy, Frédéric, Dictionnaire de l’ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IXe au XVe siècle (1881) (tube, supplement)

Scots

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Alternative forms

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Pronunciation

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Noun

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tube (plural tubes)

  1. wanker, asshole, dickhead
    • 1994, Irvine Welsh, Acid House:
      Come ahead then, ya fuckin weedjie cunts. Ah’m no exactly gaunny burst oot greetin cause some specky cunt’s five minutes late wi ma feed now, um uh? Fucking tube.
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)
    • 2013, Pedro Lenz, translated by Donal McLaughlin, Naw Much of a Talker, Freight Books, page 4:
      Sorry but Uli's just a tube [translating Pajass] but. Ah didnae say that tae Paco, o course. Ah keep it tae masel jist.
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)
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