soap bubble

American  

noun

1. a bubble of soapsuds.

2. something that lacks substance or permanence.

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soap bubble British  

noun

1. a bubble formed from soapy water

2. something that is ephemeral but attractive

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Etymology

Origin of soap bubble

First recorded in 1805–15

Example Sentences

Try as one might to keep Nico Iamaleava under wraps, the media viewing sessions at UCLA’s football training camp shorter than the lifespan of a soap bubble, several trends have emerged.

From Los Angeles Times

Our cells are surrounded by a fragile membrane that's only 5 nanometers thick, 1/20 of a soap bubble.

From Science Daily

The clusters can undergo phase separation and form dense, liquid droplets, which in turn merge into larger aggregations -- similar to how soap bubbles coalesce.

From Science Daily

Over billions of years, gravity pulled additional material into those baryon-dense regions, and galaxies and galactic clusters preferentially formed along their boundaries in thin shells like dust settling on a soap bubble.

From Scientific American

The hopes of the Vikings are as fleeting and ethereal as the snowflake-like soap bubbles that float down from the ceiling of the stadium before kickoff, giving the place a winter wonderland effect.

From Los Angeles Times