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Synonyms

boob tube

American  

noun

Informal.

  1. television.

  2. a television set.

boob tube British  

noun

  1. a close-fitting strapless top, worn by women

  2. a strapless, boneless, shapeless brassiere made of a stretch fabric

  3. a television receiver

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of boob tube

First recorded in 1965–70; rhyming coinage, from the notion that television programming is foolish, induces foolishness, or is watched by foolish people

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.