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stub1

[stuhb]
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noun
  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), stubbed, stub·bing.
  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 by out): 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).
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Origin of stub1

before 1000; (noun) Middle English stubb(e), Old English stubb tree stump; cognate with Middle Low German, Middle Dutch stubbe, Old Norse stubbi; akin to Old Norse stūfr stump; (v.) late Middle English stubben to dig up by the roots, clear stumps from (land), derivative of the noun
Related formsstub·ber, noun

stub2

[stuhb]
adjective
  1. stocky; squat.
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Origin of stub2

First recorded in 1705–15; special use of stub1
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

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British Dictionary definitions for stub

stub

noun
  1. a short piece remaining after something has been cut, removed, etca cigar stub
  2. the residual piece or section of a receipt, ticket, cheque, etc
  3. US and Canadian the part of a cheque, postal order, receipt, etc, detached and retained as a record of the transactionAlso called (in Britain) counterfoil
  4. any short projection or blunted end
  5. the stump of a tree or plant
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verb stubs, stubbing or stubbed (tr)
  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)
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Word Origin

Old English stubb; related to Old Norse stubbi, Middle Dutch stubbe, Greek stupos stem, stump
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for stub

n.

Old English stybb "stump of a tree," from Proto-Germanic *stubjaz (cf. Middle Dutch stubbe, Old Norse stubbr), from PIE root *(s)teu- (see steep (adj.)). Extended in Middle English to other short, thick things. The verb sense of "strike (one's toe) against" something is first recorded 1848. Meaning "to extinguish a cigarette" is from 1927. Related: Stubbed; stubbing.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper