globule

American  

[glob-yool] / ˈglɒb yul /

noun

1. a small spherical body.

2. Bok globule.

---

globule British  

/ ˈɡlɒbjuːl /

noun

1. a small globe, esp a drop of liquid

2. astronomy a small dark nebula thought to be a site of star formation

---

Etymology

Origin of globule

From the Latin word globulus, dating back to 1655–65. See globe, -ule

Explanation

A globule is a small drop or blob of something, especially a thick liquid. It was only after you dripped globules of paint all over your bedroom floor that you realized you should have used a drop cloth when you painted the ceiling. When the word globule first appeared in English during the 17th century, it specifically referred to a tiny round thing, a "little globe or sphere." Its roots go back to the Latin globus, "round mass or ball." These days it's perfectly acceptable to talk about a globule of anything that's dripping or forming a small, blobby mass, like the globules of oatmeal in the hair of an enthusiastic baby at breakfast.

Example Sentences

Also, he suspects Romans would have been excited to get an extra yellow globule in their frying pan.

From Washington Post • Dec. 17, 2022

A globule of phlegm dribbles from her mouth.

From Nature • Apr. 9, 2019

He also comes with a PK meter and a globule of sticky, pink silicone slime.

From Washington Times • Feb. 3, 2018

Or, as Gilbert and Sullivan would put it in 1885: “I can trace my ancestry back to a protoplasmal primordial atomic globule; consequently my family pride is something inconceivable.”

From Slate • Jul. 18, 2016

A globule of spittle hit the back of the man's head and fell behind his ear.

From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan