cube

¹ American  

[kyoob] / kjub /

noun

1. a solid bounded by six equal squares, the angle between any two adjacent faces being a right angle.

2. an object, either solid or hollow, having this form or a form approximating it.

   a cube of cheese; plastic storage cubes.

3. sugar cube.

4. flashcube.

5. Mathematics. the third power of a quantity, expressed as a 3 = aaa.

6. Informal. cubic inch, especially as a measure of the displacement of an automotive engine.

   a new sports car with 350 cubes.

7. Slang. one of a pair of dice; die.

8. Slang. a person who is unaware of or unfamiliar with current ideas, opinions, trends, etc.; square.

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verb (used with object)

• cubes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• cubed,
  past participle,  past
• cubing
  present participle

1. to make into a cube or cubes.

2. to cut into cubes.

3. Mathematics. to raise to the third power.

4. to measure the cubic contents of.

5. to tenderize (a thin cut or slice of meat) by scoring the fibers in a pattern of squares.

cube ² American  

[kyoo-bay] / ˈkju beɪ /

Also cubé

noun

1. any of several tropical plants of the legume family that are used in making fish poisons and insecticides.

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cube ¹ British  

/ kjuːb /

noun

1. a solid having six plane square faces in which the angle between two adjacent sides is a right angle

2. the product of three equal factors: the cube of 2 is 2 × 2 × 2 (usually written 2³)

3. something in the form of a cube

   a bath cube

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verb

1. to raise (a number or quantity) to the third power

2. (tr) to measure the cubic contents of

3. (tr) to make, shape, or cut (something, esp food) into cubes

4. (tr) to tenderize (meat) by scoring into squares or by pounding with a device which has a surface of metal cubes

cube ² British  

/ ˈkjuːbeɪ /

noun

1. any of various tropical American plants, esp any of the leguminous genus Lonchocarpus, the roots of which yield rotenone

2. an extract from the roots of these plants: a fish poison and insecticide

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cube Scientific  

/ kyo̅o̅b /

1. To multiply a number or a quantity by itself three times; raise to the third power. For example, five cubed is 5 × 5 × 5.

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1. The product that results when a number or quantity is cubed. For example, the cube of 5 is 125.

2. A solid having six equal square faces or sides.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• cuber
  noun

Inflected Forms

Participles

• cubing
  present
• cubed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• cube
  simple
• cubes
  simple
• have cubed
  perfect
• has cubed
  perfect
• am cubing
  progressive
• are cubing
  progressive
• is cubing
  progressive
• have been cubing
  perfect progressive
• has been cubing
  perfect progressive

Past

• cubed
  simple
• had cubed
  perfect
• was cubing
  progressive
• were cubing
  progressive
• had been cubing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will cube
  simple
• will have cubed
  perfect
• will be cubing
  progressive
• will have been cubing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of cube¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English cubus, from Latin, from Greek kýbos “cube, die”

Origin of cube²

First recorded in 1920–25; from Latin American Spanish cubé; further origin uncertain

Explanation

In math, a cube is a number multiplied by itself three times. The cube of 2 is 8 (2 x 2 x 2). It is also a three-dimensional shape where each of the six sides is a square or something shaped like a cube, such as an ice cube or meat cut into cubes. The noun cube goes back to the Greek word kybos, which was a six-sided die used in games. As a verb, cube means to cut into cube shapes. You can buy cookie dough that is ready for baking and formed into cubes. Place each cube on the cookie sheet, and the dough becomes a dozen round cookies — or fewer if you pop a cookie dough cube into your mouth before baking!

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

cube cubes cubed cubing

There, buyers can shop for Stellantis vehicles using their smartphones and a giant cube with four 10-foot by 10-foot screens.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026

About the size of a cookie, each array contains eight quartz corner cube prisms mounted inside a dome shaped aluminum frame.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 14, 2026

According to Nex, the cube has now surpassed a million lifetime units sold since its launch in December 2023 in US and Canada.

From BBC ● Jun. 20, 2026

Don’t skip dessert, either, and if you’re a coffee drinker, order the Lao coffee, served with condensed milk and a sugar cube on the side so you can customize the sweetness to your liking.

From Salon ● Jun. 11, 2026

In the darkness, a gray sphere appears, followed by a cube, a pyramid, and a cylinder.

From "Warcross" by Marie Lu

It’s about his obsession with “Minecraft,” the immensely popular video sandbox game that takes place in a world of 3D cubes representing raw materials such as wood, ores, stone and dirt.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026

This is also when I deploy what I lovingly think of as my potions and powders: anchovy, tomato paste, miso, soy sauce, fish sauce, bouillon paste or cubes, mushroom and brown gravy powder.

From Salon ● Sep. 28, 2026

The cubes are presented inside a black case.

From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026

At a Hilton Hotel bar near Tokyo, bartender Shingo Miyachi prepares a negroni with one of Kuramoto Ice's big, clear cubes.

From Barron's ● Sep. 6, 2026

Some days it was so hot, me and Howard would lay on the porch with ice cubes on our foreheads and tell knock-knock jokes.

From "Wish" by Barbara O'Connor

Renderings of the structure, which is situated in Symphony Park, show a cubed modernist building with a large awning that stretches over a bustling entry plaza to provide shade.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 17, 2025

Elote-Style Loaded Fries with Chicken: Crisp fries piled high with sweet corn, a drizzle of mayo, cotija cheese, cubed grilled chicken, pickled red onion and fresh cilantro.

From Salon ● Sep. 16, 2025

"One microgram per meter cubed might sound fairly small, but we have to think about how people are exposed to wildfire smoke," Casey said.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 25, 2024

In panel systems, relatively short pieces of straw are packed together at just the right density, about 110 kg per metre cubed, so that the volume of air inside creates an insulating effect.

From BBC ● Feb. 1, 2024

Rather than normal meal kits, most of the food was cubed protein bar material, which would still be edible even if Iris failed to deploy its tumble balloons and impacted at incredible speed.

From "The Martian" by Andy Weir

“The speed cubing community has saved our lives — it literally saved Max’s life and our lives.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 17, 2023

“The deeper I go into the realm of cubing technique, the more I find interest in pushing the boundaries of what’s possible there,” he said.

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 26, 2023

Do a general cubing and go to town.

From Salon ● Nov. 19, 2022

The volume of a cube is calculated by cubing the edge length.

From Textbooks ● Feb. 14, 2019

The estimate of cost and the cubing was there.

From The Roll-Call by Arnold Bennett