cubby

American  

[kuhb-ee] / ˈkʌb i /

noun

cubbies plural

1. a cubbyhole.

2. any of a group of small boxlike enclosures or compartments, open at the front, in which children can keep their belongings, as at a nursery school.

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cubby ¹ British  

/ ˈkʌbɪ /

noun

1. a small room or enclosed area, esp one used as a child's play area

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cubby ² British  

/ ˈkʌbɪ /

adjective

1. dialect short and plump; squat

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• cubbies
  plural

Etymology

Origin of cubby

1835–45; dial. cub stall, shed (akin to cove ¹ ) + -y ²

Example Sentences

Then Cubby Broccoli was watching as he left and dad was walking across the street, and the way he walked, dodging cars, and they said OK that's the guy.

From BBC • Aug. 18, 2025

Wrigleyville is easy to dismiss — it’s the epicenter of several of Chicago’s most predictable subcultures: exuberant Cubs fans, fraternity-adjacent revelers, women in weather-inappropriate dresses clustered around The Cubby Bear.

From Salon • Apr. 20, 2025

And Cubby said, ‘Yeah, and he’ll go well beyond me as well.’

From Seattle Times • Oct. 11, 2021

Josh Kim is a rising senior at Colby College who founded the Cubby, an online marketplace for college students to sell their art.

From New York Times • Aug. 14, 2021

Sit down, Cubby," said Carey—"I want to speak to ye, for a short time, rationally an' quietly.

From Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland, Vol. XX by Leighton, Alexander