tube

American  

[toob, tyoob] / tub, tjub /

noun

• tubes
  plural

1. a hollow, usually cylindrical body of metal, glass, rubber, or other material, used especially for conveying or containing liquids or gases.

2. a small, collapsible, cylinder of metal or plastic sealed at one end and having a capped opening at the other from which paint, toothpaste, or some other semifluid substance may be squeezed.

3. Anatomy, Zoology. any hollow, cylindrical vessel or organ.

   the bronchial tubes.

4. Botany.

   1. any hollow, elongated body or part.

   2. the united lower portion of a gamopetalous corolla or a gamosepalous calyx.

5. inner tube.

6. Electronics. electron tube.

7. Informal.

   1. television.

   2. a television set.

8. mailing tube.

9. the tubular tunnel in which an underground railroad runs.

10. the railroad itself.

11. Surfing Slang. the curled hollow formed on the underside of a cresting wave.

12. British. subway.

13. Australian Slang. a can of beer.

14. Older Slang. a telescope.

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verb (used with object)

tubed, tubing

1. to furnish with a tube or tubes.

2. to convey or enclose in a tube.

3. to form into the shape of a tube; make tubular.

idioms

1. down the tube / tubes, into a ruined, wasted, or abandoned state or condition.

tube British  

/ tjuːb /

noun

1. a long hollow and typically cylindrical object, used for the passage of fluids or as a container

2. a collapsible cylindrical container of soft metal or plastic closed with a cap, used to hold viscous liquids or pastes

3. anatomy

   1. short for Eustachian tube Fallopian tube

   2. any hollow cylindrical structure

4. botany

   1. the lower part of a gamopetalous corolla or gamosepalous calyx, below the lobes

   2. any other hollow structure in a plant

5. 1. US and Canadian equivalent: subway.  Also called: the underground.  an underground railway system

   2. the tunnels through which the railway runs

   3. the train itself

   4. (capital) the London underground railway system

6. electronics

   1. another name for valve

   2. See electron tube cathode-ray tube television tube

7. slang a television set

8. slang a stupid or despicable person

9. slang a bottle or can of beer

10. surfing the cylindrical passage formed when a wave breaks and the crest tips forward

11. an archaic word for telescope

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verb

1. to fit or supply with a tube or tubes

2. to carry or convey in a tube

3. to shape like a tube

tube More Idioms  

1. see down the tubes.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• multitube
  adjective
• tube-like
  adjective
• tubeless
  adjective
• tubelike
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• tubes
  plural

Etymology

Origin of tube

First recorded in 1590–1600, tube is from the Latin word tubus pipe

Explanation

A tube is a pipe shape, a cylinder with a hollow space inside. If you're like most people, you sip your milkshake through a straw — a long, plastic tube. Chemists use glass tubes in labs, and plumbers work with pipes — tubes made of plastic and metal. Another kind of tube is the rubber one inside a tire. If you slide down a snowy hillside on an inflated tire tube, or ride through choppy water while sitting on one, you can also use tube as a verb. Though it's not true in the US, in London the subway is also familiarly known as the Tube.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

tube tubes tubed tubing

Such deaths typically occur in the first trimester, after a pregnancy fails to properly implant in the uterus and begins to develop elsewhere, most commonly inside a fallopian tube.

From Salon ● Sep. 13, 2026

When a seal like Violet won’t eat on its own, caretakers use a tube to feed it.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2026

By then, 10 days after the re-engineered cells were infused into his body, the buildup of extra fluids caused by Bronkhorst’s cancer had come to a halt, allowing doctors to remove a drainage tube.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 7, 2026

The fossil belongs to Dendrocrinus simcoensis and preserves its tube feet, delicate structures that almost never survive fossilization.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 21, 2026

The relentless cleaning of the vessel uncovered, hidden beneath the layers of concretion, a water tube that ran the length of the forty-foot sub.

From "Shipwrecked!" by Martin W. Sandler

That liquid could then rise through narrow channels toward the surface, much like material moving through lava or geyser tubes.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 17, 2026

His breathing, feeding and toileting are all done through tubes at the neurological rebab centre where he is being cared for.

From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2026

In the middle of the BioCharger, within the geometric, connected plates of glass, is a Tesla coil, which ionizes the surrounding 12 glass tubes that hold six noble gases, the gases in the earth’s atmosphere.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026

Fox had had parts of his spleen, pancreas, and small and large intestine removed, and yet his tubes and catheter were out and he was already walking with a walker.

From Slate ● Aug. 20, 2026

Overhead, slender tubes of light beamed down on the display cases.

From "Ruby Holler" by Sharon Creech

This device comes in two forms, tubed and tubeless.

From BBC ● Dec. 14, 2024

The Faroe Islands is a self-governing archipelago within the Kingdom of Denmark, where there is also a strong affinity for meat served in tubed form.

From Salon ● Nov. 18, 2024

For trans men, testosterone and mastectomy were common, but genital surgeries remained rare, in part because phalloplasty had only minimally evolved beyond Gillies’s tubed pedicle of the 1940s.

From New York Times ● May 10, 2022

He was a tall Dane, holding a tubed black device that he called a smoking gun.

From The New Yorker ● Apr. 4, 2016

This is the name which was formerly given to several springs in the immediate vicinity of the Excelsior, and embracing the Union and the Minnehaha, which have been recently tubed.

From Saratoga and How to See It by R. F. Dearborn

Certain lots were found to have internal tubing tears, which risk under-delivering insulin to patients.

From Barron's ● Apr. 30, 2026

Corporate outings are up this season, Lacey says, partly because of non-ski offerings like nighttime disco tubing, which features laser lights, music and drinks around fire pits.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 12, 2026

Made of plastic tubing and rope, they can be cheaply and easily made.

From BBC ● Dec. 30, 2025

He took out a piece of surgical tubing and said, “Put this in your mouth.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 15, 2025

Liberty and Bonnie ask if they can go tubing.

From "We Were Liars" by E. Lockhart

Related Words

• cylinder
• duct
• pipe
• pipeline
• tunnel