stub

1
[ stuhb ]
See synonyms for stub on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a short projecting part.

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

  1. (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.

  2. the returned portion of a ticket.

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

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

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

  6. Bridge. a part-score.

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.

  1. to clear of stubs, as land.

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

Origin of stub

1
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

Other words from stub

  • stubber, noun

Words Nearby stub

Other definitions for stub (2 of 2)

stub2
[ stuhb ]

adjective

Origin of stub

2
First recorded in 1705–15; special use of stub1

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use stub in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for stub

stub

/ (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

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

  2. any short projection or blunted end

  3. the stump of a tree or plant

verbstubs, 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

  1. to clear (land) of stubs

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

Origin of stub

1
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