stub
1 Americannoun
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a short projecting part.
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a short remaining piece, as of a pencil, candle, or cigar.
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(in a checkbook, receipt book, etc.) the inner end of each leaf, for keeping a record of the content of the part filled out and torn away.
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the returned portion of a ticket.
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the end of a fallen tree, shrub, or plant left fixed in the ground; stump.
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something having a short, blunt shape, especially a short-pointed, blunt pen.
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something having the look of incomplete or stunted growth, as a horn of an animal.
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Bridge. a part-score.
verb (used with object)
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to strike accidentally against a projecting object.
I stubbed my toe against the step.
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to extinguish the burning end of (a cigarette or cigar) by crushing it against a solid object (often followed byout ).
He stubbed out the cigarette in the ashtray.
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to clear of stubs, as land.
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to dig up by the roots; grub up (roots).
adjective
noun
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a short piece remaining after something has been cut, removed, etc
a cigar stub
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the residual piece or section of a receipt, ticket, cheque, etc
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the part of a cheque, postal order, receipt, etc, detached and retained as a record of the transaction Also called (in Britain) counterfoil
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any short projection or blunted end
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the stump of a tree or plant
verb
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to strike (one's toe, foot, etc) painfully against a hard surface
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(usually foll by out) to extinguish (a cigarette or cigar) by pressing the end against a surface
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to clear (land) of stubs
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to dig up (the roots) of (a tree or bush)
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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stubsimple
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stubssimple
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have stubbedperfect
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has stubbedperfect
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am stubbingprogressive
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are stubbingprogressive
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is stubbingprogressive
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have been stubbingperfect progressive
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has been stubbingperfect progressive
Past
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stubbedsimple
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had stubbedperfect
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was stubbingprogressive
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were stubbingprogressive
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had been stubbingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of stub1
First recorded before 1000; Middle English noun stubb(e), Old English stybb, stubb, stebb “tree stump”; cognate with Middle Low German, Middle Dutch stubbe, Old Norse stubbi; akin to Old Norse stūfr “stump”; the verb is derivative of the noun
Origin of stub2
First recorded in 1705–15; special use of stub 1
Explanation
The small remainder of something is a stub. If you sharpen your favorite pencil obsessively, soon you'll be left with just a stub. Anything that's leftover or unusually short can be a stub, from the ticket stub you're handed in the theater to your dog's little stub of a tail. As a verb, stub most often means "strike painfully against something," and it's toes that you most often stub: "Put your shoes on before you run around in the yard, or you'll stub your toe again!"
Vocabulary lists containing stub
A Good Kind of Trouble
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How I Became a Ghost
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Milkweed
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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:
For many people, a year-end pay stub will have all the numbers a tax professional needs to determine which pay is eligible for the tax break, Steber said.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 14, 2026
But the definition of what kinds of overtime pay qualify is much trickier than just looking at the overtime line on a pay stub.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 4, 2026
When you touch a hot pan, stub your toe, or bump your head, your nervous system instantly delivers an “Ow!” that prompts you to pull back before more damage occurs.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 10, 2025
The following month, after a member of the congregation took up the position of treasurer, it was discovered the cheque stub for the £10,000 transaction bore the name Northern Ireland Organs Limited.
From BBC ● Sep. 10, 2024
A stub of a candle flickers, sending weak light across the deep scratches on his desk.
From "The Bletchley Riddle" by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin
If one AI company stubs its toe, investors can expect other AI companies to say “ow.”
From Barron's ● Jun. 4, 2026
They’ll also have to include documentation of all household bills and expenses, showing how much they do or don’t contribute personally, as well as financial documents such as bank statements and any pay stubs.
From Salon ● Apr. 29, 2026
This has to be a change that has already happened and is documented on your most recent pay stubs or tax returns, he cautioned — not something projected to happen soon.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 28, 2026
The company’s technology alerts lenders to suspected double pledging based on pay stubs and bank statements when they are submitted to different financial institutions, he added.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 16, 2025
Moon Orchid sneaked up on the boys and lifted their hair to look for pencil stubs.
From "The Woman Warrior" by Maxine Hong Kingston
Acute pain acts as a warning signal, starting when injured tissue, such as a stubbed toe, sends messages through the spinal cord to the brain.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 27, 2026
And the expressive Garfield can convey water-eyed empathy so deftly that you know Tobias would be laid low if Almut so much as stubbed her toe on the leg of a coffee table.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 10, 2024
Runs were devilishly difficult to come by, yet England looked to have control until Brook stubbed a return catch to Jayasuriya.
From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2024
But now, it’s as if the room is on fire: The threat of a stubbed toe still exists, but moving slowly and cautiously risks even greater peril.
From New York Times ● Sep. 22, 2022
He stubbed his toe and swore as he held his hands in front of him, trying to find the other door.
From "Time Bomb" by Joelle Charbonneau
Footwear stocks keep stubbing their toe, and a sustained recovery remains elusive.
From Barron's ● May 1, 2026
During an era where patience can be in short supply at the FBS-level, Pitt has stuck with Narduzzi while he’s fielded teams that have flirted with a major breakthrough while also stubbing their toes repeatedly.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 22, 2021
You can barely walk without stubbing your toe on one.
From New York Times ● Aug. 11, 2018
He added, accidentally stubbing his toe on a truth, that running for president without the electoral college would involve “a totally different campaign.”
From Washington Post ● May 2, 2018
I assume he has been puzzled by both events, as if they’re not something he’s done himself, on purpose, but things that have happened to him accidentally, like stubbing your toe.
From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood
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.
