cub
noun
the young of certain animals, as the bear, lion, or tiger.
cub
1 American
[kuhb]
/ kʌb /
noun
-
the young of certain animals, as the bear, lion, or tiger.
-
a young shark.
-
a young and inexperienced person, especially a callow youth or young man.
-
a young person serving as an apprentice.
-
(initial capital letter) any small, light monoplane with a high wing, a single engine, and an enclosed cabin.
verb (used without object)
cubbed,
cubbing
-
to work as a cub reporter.
-
(of a female bear, lion, tiger, etc.) to give birth to a cub or cubs.
-
to hunt fox cubs.
cub.
2
American
abbreviation
cub
1
British
/ kʌb /
noun
-
the young of certain animals, such as the lion, bear, etc
-
a young or inexperienced person
verb
Cub
2
British
/ kʌb /
noun
Other Word Forms
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”
Explanation
A cub is a baby animal. A mother fox sometimes carries her cub by the scruff of its neck. Use the word cub when you talk about one of a number of meat-eating mammal babies, including bears, foxes, lions, and tigers. While a tiny bear cub looks as adorable and helpless as a stuffed animal, its mother is ferocious and protective of her cubs. In the old days, people also called a young, immature boy a cub — today, a human cub is more likely to be a junior Boy Scout — a Cub Scout.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The tigers include 190kg Kiara, 20-year-old Aschanti, and two-year-old cub Imana.
From BBC • May 18, 2026
The cub, whose coat is still peppered with reddish fur, is very active and still nursing, he said.
From Barron's • May 15, 2026
A polar bear cub travels the icy Svalbard coast with its mother.
From BBC • Mar. 25, 2026
“Home” is a concept that Chase, a newly orphaned cheetah cub, struggles to make sense of.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 20, 2026
The wolf cub did not at all understand what was going on.
From "Wolf Brother" by Michelle Paver
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.
