blubber

American  

[bluhb-er] / ˈblʌb ər /

noun

1. Zoology. the fat layer between the skin and muscle of whales and other cetaceans, from which oil is made.

2. excess body fat.

3. an act of weeping noisily and without restraint.

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verb (used without object)

1. to weep noisily and without restraint.

   Stop blubbering and tell me what's wrong.

verb (used with object)

1. to say, especially incoherently, while weeping.

   The child seemed to be blubbering something about a lost ring.

2. to contort or disfigure (the features) with weeping.

adjective

1. disfigured with blubbering; blubbery.

   She dried her blubber eyes.

2. fatty; swollen; puffed out (usually used in combination).

   thick, blubber lips; blubber-faced.

blubber British  

/ ˈblʌbə /

verb

1. to sob without restraint

2. to utter while sobbing

3. (tr) to make (the face) wet and swollen or disfigured by crying

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noun

1. a thick insulating layer of fatty tissue below the skin of aquatic mammals such as the whale: used by man as a source of oil

2. informal excessive and flabby body fat

3. the act or an instance of weeping without restraint

4. an informal name for jellyfish

adjective

1. (often in combination) swollen or fleshy

   blubber-faced

   blubber-lips

blubber Scientific  

/ blŭb′ər /

1. The thick layer of fat between the skin and the muscle layers of whales and other marine mammals. It insulates the animal from heat loss and serves as a food reserve.

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Other Word Forms

• blubberer noun
• blubberingly adverb

Etymology

Origin of blubber

1250–1300; Middle English bluber bubble, bubbling water, entrails, whale oil; apparently imitative

Explanation

Blubber is the thick layer of fat that keeps whales and other large swimming mammals warm in the cold water. Inuits and other northern people have traditionally relied on eating blubber. Based on marine animal blubber, some people describe human fat as blubber too — often in a derogatory way. When blubber is a verb, it means to sob uncontrollably: "The little girl sat down and started to blubber after skinning her knee." Blubber was originally spelled blober, meaning "a bubble" or "bubbling water," which led to the "crying" meaning of the word. In the 15th century, it also meant "jellyfish" and "whale oil."

Example Sentences

Their evidence included finding stone harpoon points that hadn’t been used since the mid-1800s embedded in the blubber of whales recently killed by traditional whalers.

From Salon • Dec. 27, 2024

On the business end, there is a 3cm metal tip that plucks a piece of skin and blubber from the whale’s body.

From BBC • Jun. 7, 2024

They swim slowly and near shore, have thick blubber and float when killed, according to Jessica Crance, a research biologist with the Cetacean Assessment and Ecology Program at the Alaska Fisheries Science Center.

From Seattle Times • May 27, 2024

These currently unmonitored chemicals were also present in the blubber of dolphin carcasses that had washed ashore, as well as in the sediment collected near the known dumping area.

From Los Angeles Times • May 6, 2024

Tons of whale meat, bone, and scrap blubber lay rotting around the station.

From "Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World" by Jennifer Armstrong

Related Words

• bawl
• cry