stub

¹ American  

[stuhb] / stʌb /

noun

• stubs
  plural

1. a short projecting part.

2. a short remaining piece, as of a pencil, candle, or cigar.

3. (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.

4. the returned portion of a ticket.

5. the end of a fallen tree, shrub, or plant left fixed in the ground; stump.

6. something having a short, blunt shape, especially a short-pointed, blunt pen.

7. stub nail.

8. something having the look of incomplete or stunted growth, as a horn of an animal.

9. Bridge. a part-score.

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verb (used with object)

• stubs,
  present (3rd person singular)
• stubbed,
  past participle,  past
• stubbing
  present participle

1. to strike accidentally against a projecting object.

   I stubbed my toe against the step.

2. 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.

3. to clear of stubs, as land.

4. to dig up by the roots; grub up (roots).

stub ² American  

[stuhb] / stʌb /

adjective

1. stocky; squat.

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stub British  

/ stʌb /

noun

1. a short piece remaining after something has been cut, removed, etc

   a cigar stub

2. the residual piece or section of a receipt, ticket, cheque, etc

3. the part of a cheque, postal order, receipt, etc, detached and retained as a record of the transaction Also called (in Britain) counterfoil

4. any short projection or blunted end

5. the stump of a tree or plant

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verb

1. to strike (one's toe, foot, etc) painfully against a hard surface

2. (usually foll by out) to extinguish (a cigarette or cigar) by pressing the end against a surface

3. to clear (land) of stubs

4. to dig up (the roots) of (a tree or bush)

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• stubber
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• stubs
  plural

Participles

• stubbing
  present
• stubbed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• stub
  simple
• stubs
  simple
• have stubbed
  perfect
• has stubbed
  perfect
• am stubbing
  progressive
• are stubbing
  progressive
• is stubbing
  progressive
• have been stubbing
  perfect progressive
• has been stubbing
  perfect progressive

Past

• stubbed
  simple
• had stubbed
  perfect
• was stubbing
  progressive
• were stubbing
  progressive
• had been stubbing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will stub
  simple
• will have stubbed
  perfect
• will be stubbing
  progressive
• will have been stubbing
  perfect progressive

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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

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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!"

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

stub stubs stubbed stubbing

You can look at your latest pay stub and see your year-to-date tax withholding and your year-to-date retirement contributions, and think about whether switching to post-tax contributions would make a difference.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 25, 2026

Now I stub my toe, I’m limping for three weeks.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 13, 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

Then he hugged each weeping daughter and walked out the door, hitching up his trousers with the stub of his left arm.

From "Cold Sassy Tree" by Olive Ann Burns

Instead, I found an option to upload pay stubs manually.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 11, 2026

Liverpool's away shirt is inspired by the ticket stubs from European nights during the 1970s and 1980s.

From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2026

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

It’s full of letters, ticket stubs, receipts, scribbled notes.

From "Code Name Kingfisher" by Liz Kessler

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

Chelsea's Cole Palmer will be absent for another week because he fractured his toe when he stubbed it on a door on Wednesday night.

From BBC ● Nov. 21, 2025

According to Roberts, Betts stubbed his toe after the team returned from this week’s trip on Wednesday.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 30, 2025

I was out for a brisk stroll, hands in my pockets when I stubbed my toe on an uneven tree grate and fell face-first to the pavement breaking my nose and scraping up my face.

From Seattle Times ● Dec. 31, 2023

Feigning offense, Emma said, “Of course we’re performers,” and to demonstrate, she made a tiny flame on the tip of her finger and stubbed it out in her eye.

From "Hollow City" by Ransom Riggs

Footwear stocks keep stubbing their toe, and a sustained recovery remains elusive.

From Barron's ● May 1, 2026

After busting a big toe by stubbing it on her coffee table, Burke never goes barefoot.

From Washington Post ● Jul. 30, 2022

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 looks over at Magic Eye, who is stubbing his cigar on the sole of his boot.

From "In the Time of the Butterflies" by Julia Alvarez

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