cub

¹ American  

[kuhb] / kʌb /

noun

1. the young of certain animals, as the bear, lion, or tiger.

2. a young shark.

3. a young and inexperienced person, especially a callow youth or young man.

4. a young person serving as an apprentice.

5. cub reporter.

6. cub scout.

7. (initial capital letter) any small, light monoplane with a high wing, a single engine, and an enclosed cabin.

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verb (used without object)

cubbed, cubbing

1. to work as a cub reporter.

2. (of a female bear, lion, tiger, etc.) to give birth to a cub or cubs.

3. to hunt fox cubs.

cub. ² American  

abbreviation

1. cubic.

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cub ¹ British  

/ kʌb /

noun

1. the young of certain animals, such as the lion, bear, etc

2. a young or inexperienced person

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verb

1. to give birth to (cubs)

Cub ² British  

/ kʌb /

noun

1. short for Cub Scout

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Other Word Forms

• cubbish adjective
• cubbishly adverb

Etymology

Origin of cub

First recorded in 1520–30; perhaps from Scandinavian; compare Old Norse kobbi “young seal,” kubbr “stump,” hence, “short, thick-set person”

Example Sentences

During her recovery, Meatball became pregnant but due to her ill health, her cubs did not survive.

From BBC

Karen was then left trying to work out how to look after the cubs, while frantically searching online for information on the otters.

From BBC

The cub’s selfish decisions lead to the tree laying itself across a chasm to save its surrogate child.

From Los Angeles Times

The creature had the hind legs of a lion cub and the wings and forelegs of an eagle, white-feathered and tufty.

From Literature

"But body condition is only one piece of the puzzle. Other recent research on these bears found that more ice-free days reduced survival in cubs and in subadult and old females."

From BBC