stubble

[stuhb-uhl]

noun

1. Usually stubbles. the stumps of grain and other stalks left in the ground when the crop is cut.

2. such stumps collectively.

3. any short, rough growth, as of beard.

stubble

/ ˈstʌbəl /

noun

1. 1. the stubs of stalks left in a field where a crop has been cut and harvested

   2. ( as modifier )

      a stubble field

2. any bristly growth or surface

Other Word Forms

• stubbled adjective
• stubbly adjective
• unstubbled adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of stubble¹

1250–1300; Middle English stuble < Old French estuble < Vulgar Latin *stupula, Latin stipula stipule

Word History and Origins

Origin of stubble¹

C13: from Old French estuble, from Latin stupula, variant of stipula stalk, stem, stubble

Example Sentences

There isn't a single cause behind the problem, but a mix of factors like low wind speeds, industrial emissions, vehicle exhaust, dropping temperatures and the seasonal burning of crop stubble in neighbouring states.

Read more on BBC

Silver pearls glisten on the men’s foreheads and their eyes are sunken deep in their pale faces, framed in a stubble of beard.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The city's pollution problem becomes worse in winter as farmers in neighbouring states burn crop stubble.

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A burly bearded man in a blue tunic moved swiftly through grassy stubble on a windswept road in rural Damascus, collecting bones with his bare hands.

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His stubble had grown into a wispy beard.

Read more on Los Angeles Times