tube

[tjuːb]

Language▾

German

Persian

Russian

Spanish

tubing - tube

A tube is a hollow or cylindrical object that's open at both ends.

You might see tubes all around you, like in your bathroom where there's a tube for the showerhead, or when you're on the road and see big tubes carrying gas or oil under the highway. People also use tubes to breathe air when they're underwater scuba diving. In general, tubes are useful because they can contain things or help move them from one place to another, like food in a straw or water in a hose.

How common is "tube"?

Word tube is considered uncommon in modern English.
It has a balanced usage among all categories: speech, fiction, newspapers and academic texts.

Definitions

noun

Anything that is hollow and cylindrical in shape.
An approximately cylindrical container, usually with a crimped end and a screw top, used to contain and dispense semiliquid substances.
Example: A tube of toothpaste.
(often capitalized as Tube) 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.)
Example: I took the tube to Waterloo and walked the rest of the way.
A tin can containing beer.
A wave which pitches forward when breaking, creating a hollow space inside.
A television.
Example: Are you just going to sit around all day and watch the tube?
An idiot.

1 / 7

boob tubetelly

verb

To supply with, or enclose in, a tube.
Example: She tubes lipstick in the cosmetics factory.
To ride an inner tube.
Example: They tubed down the Colorado River.
To intubate.
Example: The patient was tubed.

1 / 3

Real examples of "tubing" in context

Can a Ping-Pong Ball Really Be Deadly? | MythBusters | Discovery

Entertainment

Well, the vacuum trick for launching a ping pong ball out of a short length of tubing is working gangbusters.

7:06