tub

American  

[tuhb] / tʌb /

noun

• tubs
  plural

1. a bathtub.

2. a broad, round, open, wooden container, usually made of staves held together by hoops and fitted around a flat bottom.

3. any of various containers resembling or suggesting a tub.

   a tub for washing clothes.

4. the amount a tub will hold.

5. Informal. a short and fat person.

6. Nautical. an old, slow, or clumsy vessel.

7. British Informal. a bath in a bathtub.

8. Mining. an ore car; tram.

9. Military Slang. a two-seat aircraft, especially a trainer.

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verb (used with object)

tubbed, tubbing

1. to place or keep in a tub.

2. British Informal. to bathe in a bathtub.

verb (used without object)

tubbed, tubbing

1. British Informal. to bathe oneself in a bathtub.

2. Informal. to undergo washing, especially without damage, as a fabric.

   This cotton print tubs well.

tub British  

/ tʌb /

noun

1. a low wide open container, typically round, originally one made of wood and used esp for washing: now made of wood, plastic, metal, etc, and used in a variety of domestic and industrial situations

2. a small plastic or cardboard container of similar shape for ice cream, margarine, etc

3. Also called: bathtub. another word (esp US and Canadian) for bath 1

4. Also called: tubful. the amount a tub will hold

5. a clumsy slow boat or ship

6. informal (in rowing) a heavy wide boat used for training novice oarsmen

7. Also called: tram, hutch.

   1. a small vehicle on rails for carrying loads in a mine

   2. a container for lifting coal or ore up a mine shaft; skip

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verb

1. informal to wash (oneself or another) in a tub

2. (tr) to keep or put in a tub

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• tubber
  noun
• undertub
  noun
• tubbable
  adjective
• tublike
  adjective
• untubbed
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• tubs
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of tub

1350–1400; Middle English tubbe (noun) < Middle Dutch tobbe; cognate with Middle Low German tubbe, tobbe

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Explanation

A tub is a wide, open container. You might have a tub of butter in your fridge, but if your mom tells you to hop in the tub, stay out of the kitchen. She means it's time for a bath. Tub is an informal word for bathtub, the fixture in your bathroom that can be filled with water and bathed in. Other tubs are containers used to hold liquid or other materials — think of a tub of margarine or a tub of ice cream. In the 17th century, tub was slang for "pulpit" or "lectern," and a tub thumper was an overly enthusiastic orator or preacher.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

tub tubs tubbed tubbing

Alan Dorfman held an Etch A Sketch over a laundry tub, picked up a hacksaw and sawed the device in half, spilling silver powder everywhere.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026

Other highlights include an open, corner living and dining room, walls of windows, a chef’s kitchen, and a main bedroom with a formal dressing area and an en suite bathroom with a soaking tub.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 23, 2026

But at £32.99 for a 420g tub, she's feeling the high price and tries to make the product stretch.

From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2026

It boasts of amenities including a resort-style pool, hot tub, cold plunge, tennis court and 5,000-bottle wine cellar.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 2026

His tree frog lived in the parlor, while his snapping turtle could be found tied to the laundry tub.

From "Death on the River of Doubt" by Samantha Seiple

Pedestrians in plastic rain ponchos waded through murky, knee-deep water in the Thai capital, some venturing into a supermarket while others floated their belongings in plastic tubs.

From Barron's ● Sep. 27, 2026

The Delafield Hotel is a charming boutique property with massive rooms, comfortable beds and bathrooms outfitted with Kohler rain showers and soaking hydrotherapy tubs.

From Salon ● Sep. 8, 2026

Now found in tubs and bags on many supermarket shelves and tagged in your social feeds, it is the supplement of choice for millions of people and one of the most scientifically researched.

From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026

The center’s two 50-meter pools and an adjacent therapy pool will be closed, along with two expansive hot tubs, the people said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 1, 2026

There was an enormous black stove, and a metal sink, and every surface, every wall, was piled and strewn and hung with everything imaginable, from onions to lanterns to wooden spoons to wash- tubs.

From "Tuck Everlasting" by Natalie Babbit

Then I turned the corner: Freezers lined with beautiful tubbed sauces and pastas.

From Salon ● Jul. 11, 2026

They generally admired Romney's pink-cheeked Willett Children for seeming recently tubbed and scrubbed yet true-to-life.

From Time Magazine Archive

She linked this perception with his appearance of having been freshly tubbed, his immaculate finger nails, shining as though fresh from the manicure, his perfectly kept teeth and—yes—the pressure of a finger on her pulse.

From The House of Mystery An Episode in the Career of Rosalie Le Grange, Clairvoyant by Will Irwin

Even the doctor shook his head, while old Martha, who had tubbed Austin when he was two years old, joined in the general protest.

From Austin and His Friends by Frederic H. Balfour

Goaded by time bulletins shouted through the closed door, Fanny found herself tubbed, clothed, and ready for breakfast by eight-ten.

From Fanny Herself by Edna Ferber

He then takes her to a winter wonderland for some light luging and hot tubbing.

From Time ● Jan. 14, 2014

The claw at the extremity of the bar pulled out everything within its reach, and thus made an absolutely free passage for the tubbing.

From Scientific American Supplement, No. 508, September 26, 1885 by Various

With these ideas he becomes as a freshman a member of his college boat club, and adds his name to the "tubbing list."

From Rowing by Rudolf Chambers Lehmann

I sometimes see blackbirds, thrushes, and sparrows all tubbing at one time, and quite hilarious over it.

From Aileen Aroon, A Memoir With other Tales of Faithful Friends and Favourites by Gordon Stables

No bath, of course, but up here you get used to tubbing in your basin, and—and little things like that.

From The Long Trick by Bartimeus

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