cubicle
Americannoun
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a small space or compartment partitioned off.
-
a bedroom, especially one of a number of small ones in a divided dormitory, as in English public schools.
noun
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a partially or totally enclosed section of a room, as in a dormitory
-
an indoor construction designed to house individual cattle while allowing them free access to silage
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of cubicle
1400–50; late Middle English < Latin cubiculum bedroom, equivalent to cub ( āre ) to lie down + -i- -i- + -culum -cle 2
Explanation
A cubicle is a small space partitioned off within a larger space for a particular purpose — usually reading or studying. Or just surfing the Internet. Cubicle comes from the Latin term for a monk's bedroom, cubiculum, which itself is from the word cubare, "to lie down." Back then a monk would probably share it with an illuminated manuscript and a Bible; nowadays the average worker drone has a computer and a bunch of Post-it notes. Still great for sleeping in, though, as long as you don't get caught.
Vocabulary lists containing cubicle
Boy: Tales of Childhood
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Marcus Vega Doesn't Speak Spanish
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Vocabulary Video Contest (2013) - List 1
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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.
Lau's cubicle is one of nine in a single unit, separated by thin wooden dividers, in a 60-year-old building in one of Hong Kong's poorest neighbourhoods, Sham Shui Po.
From Barron's • May 28, 2026
As those jobs disappeared, lower-skill cubicle gigs helped fill the void.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 27, 2026
In fact, he acted like any other college graduate preparing to sit in a cubicle all day.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 23, 2026
Kendra said she had booked a ringside cubicle for the performance in Londonderry on Wednesday.
From BBC • Apr. 23, 2026
An Ivy Leaguer in a Lakers T-shirt popped his head above the cubicle partition.
From "Beauty Queens" by Libba Bray
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.
