Examples Word Origin
See more synonyms for cube on Thesaurus.com a solid bounded by six equal squares, the angle between any two adjacent faces being a right angle. an object, either solid or hollow, having this form or a form approximating it: a cube of cheese; plastic storage cubes. sugar cube. flashcube . Mathematics the third power of a quantity, expressed as a 3 = a·a·a. Informal cubic inch, especially as a measure of the displacement of an automotive engine: a new sports car with 350 cubes. Slang one of a pair of dice; die. Slang a person who is unaware of or unfamiliar with current ideas, opinions, trends, etc.; square. Show More
verb (used with object), cubed, cub·ing. to make into a cube or cubes. to cut into cubes. Mathematics to raise to the third power. to measure the cubic contents of. to tenderize (a thin cut or slice of meat) by scoring the fibers in a pattern of squares. Show More
Origin of cube 1 1350–1400; Middle English cubus < Latin < Greek kýbos cube, die
Related forms cub·er , noun any of several tropical plants of the legume family that are used in making fish poisons and insecticides. Show More
Also
cu·bé [kyoo-bey ] /kyuˈbeɪ/ .
Origin of cube 2 First recorded in 1920–25; origin uncertain
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for cube Contemporary Examples of cube Geometrically, it is a cube being forced into a rhomboid by the fault.
The cube was placed outside for passersby to see as part of the Venice Biennale in Venice, Italy.
[I]n Westeros, the Lannisters have the cube of gold and the Tyrells with the rich farmland of the Reach have the real resources.
Whisk the cold butter cube s into the sauce, a cube at a time, until all the butter is incorporated.
And another asked for cube , fourth and fifth roots of a six-digit number.
Historical Examples of cube Professor Johnson placed the cube gently on the machine's platform.
The square of any such number represents a surface, the cube a solid.
Keep your eyes on me, for to look at the cube spells danger!
The second cube came back unchanged, except that it was newer, shinier.
I flicked the switch and opened the door, expecting to find the cube vanished.
British Dictionary definitions for cube a solid having six plane square faces in which the angle between two adjacent sides is a right angle the product of three equal factors: the cube of 2 is 2 × 2 × 2 (usually written 2³) something in the form of a cube a bath cube Show More
to raise (a number or quantity) to the third power (tr) to measure the cubic contents of (tr) to make, shape, or cut (something, esp food) into cubes (tr) US and Canadian to tenderize (meat) by scoring into squares or by pounding with a device which has a surface of metal cubes Show More
Word Origin for cube C16: from Latin cubus die, cube, from Greek kubos
any of various tropical American plants, esp any of the leguminous genus Lonchocarpus, the roots of which yield rotenone an extract from the roots of these plants: a fish poison and insecticide Show More
Word Origin for cube American Spanish cubé, of unknown origin
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
Word Origin and History for cube n. 1550s, from Middle French cube (13c.) and directly from Latin cubus , from Greek kybos "a cube, a six-sided die, vertebra," perhaps from PIE root *keu(b)- "to bend, turn." Mathematical sense is from 1550s in English (it also was in the ancient Greek word: the Greeks threw with three dice; the highest possible roll was three sixes).
Show More
v. 1580s in the mathematical sense; 1947 with meaning "cut in cubes," from cube (n.). The Greek verbal derivatives from the noun all referred to dice-throwing and gambling. Related: Cubed ; cubing .
Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
To multiply a number or a quantity by itself three times; raise to the third power. For example, five cubed is 5 X 5 X 5. Show More
The product that results when a number or quantity is cubed. For example, the cube of 5 is 125. A solid having six equal square faces or sides. Show More
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
