hub
Americannoun
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the central part of a wheel, as that part into which the spokes are inserted.
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the central part or axle end from which blades or spokelike parts radiate on various devices, as on a fan or propeller.
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a center around which other things revolve or from which they radiate; a focus of activity, authority, commerce, transportation, etc..
Chicago is a railroad hub.
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the Hub, Boston, Massachusetts (used as a nickname).
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the peg or hob used as a target in quoits and similar games.
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any one of the holes in an electrical panel, into which connections may be plugged.
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Computers. a device connecting others in a network and enabling communication among them by receiving data packets from any of the devices and broadcasting them to every device on the network irrespective of the intended destination: used primarily in small local area networks.
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Coining. a design of hardened steel in relief, used as a punch in making a die.
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Surveying. a stake bearing a tack used to mark a theodolite position.
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Metalworking. a die forced into a metal blank.
verb (used with object)
noun
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the central portion of a wheel, propeller, fan, etc, through which the axle passes
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the focal point
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computing a device for connecting computers in a network
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of hub
First recorded in 1505–15; perhaps variant of hob 1
Explanation
A hub is the center of a wheel or the center of some kind of activity. If all of an airline's flights go through Atlanta, you'd say the southern city is their hub. You know how a lot of activity is called a hubbub? That makes sense when you consider that a hub, in a wheel or otherwise, is the center of whatever's going on. Southern California has long been a hub of the computer industry, and Detroit used to be the hub of the auto industry. Busy airports like the ones in Chicago and Atlanta are called hubs. Any hub is important, because it's right in the middle of all the action.
Vocabulary lists containing hub
Essential Three-Letter Words, Part 2
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This Week In Words: Current Events Vocab for December 26, 2020—January 1, 2021
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Outcasts United
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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.
See Examples For:
Female shoppers dominate the customer base of the normally bustling markets in Herat, Afghanistan's western commercial hub and one of its largest cities.
From Barron's ● Jul. 12, 2026
Oyo is one of Nigeria's most populous states, and its capital, Ibadan, is a major education hub.
From Barron's ● Jul. 11, 2026
The Texas Stock Exchange began trading Friday, the culmination of years spent wooing companies, reshaping corporate laws and positioning the state as America’s next financial hub.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 11, 2026
Stockpiles are still so low that the central U.S. storage hub in Cushing, Okla., has reached operational limits that would make withdrawing more crude challenging.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026
“This was the hub of the mill, the heartbeat,” he said as we stood on a factory floor that was longer than two football fields.
From "Drama High" by Michael Sokolove
U.S. property is overvalued by roughly 10% on average, but individual cities show high bubble risks, as do parts of Australasia, Europe and Asia — especially the major financial hubs.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 9, 2026
Refineries, ports, power grids, logistics hubs, communications networks and transportation systems are no longer rear-area assets immune from war.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026
This made alleys community destinations and social hubs.
From Salon ● Jul. 3, 2026
For comparison, £25m is the amount ministers plan to spend on surgical and diagnostic hubs.
From BBC ● Jul. 1, 2026
This had cobwebs on it, too, strung in and out of the steering-wheel spokes, and over the metal hubs.
From "I'm the King of the Castle" by Susan Hill
But in the mid-’90s government regulators began to regard Southwest as a positive competitive influence on the hubbed airlines—whenever Southwest managed to enter a new market, fares fell.
From Slate ● Sep. 7, 2017
As more low-cost airlines began competing on the lucrative routes between major cities, it was harder for the hubbed operators to charge the premium they required to recoup their higher operating costs.
From Slate ● Sep. 7, 2017
Consolidation has also made it less essential for the hubbed airlines to worry about smaller markets.
From Slate ● Sep. 7, 2017
In some ways the hubbed airlines have become more like Southwest.
From Slate ● Sep. 7, 2017
That competitive pressure motivated the hubbed carriers to use outsourcing and the market power they acquired from consolidation to continue pushing regional wages down, even while they earned huge profits.
From Slate ● Sep. 7, 2017
Revenue fell 1.7% to 455 million francs, which Sunrise said resulted from lower mobile hardware and hubbing sales.
From Reuters ● Aug. 22, 2019
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.
