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.

---

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

---

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

Etymology

Origin of tub

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

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

“A glass-and-timber gym, barrel sauna, outdoor soaking tub, multiple covered terraces, five-car garage, and parking for four additional vehicles complete the property,” reads the listing.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026

A day later Cardiff Rugby academy players found the tub while doing volunteering work, and handed it to park officials.

From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026

I added a private hot tub and an Eight Sleep Pod, which is a really fancy mattress topper that heats and cools your mattress.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026

ALTER: Everyone should have a stall shower, separate from the tub.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026

We heated water in a large pot and poured it into a large aluminum tub.

From "Breaking Through" by Francisco Jiménez

The bathrooms boast large soaking tubs and chic vanities.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026

Even yogurt containers and margarine tubs — made of ubiquitous polypropylene, or #5 plastic — are being recycled at a rate of only 2% in the state, the report said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 2026

It has tubs of brown butter, frozen flat or portioned into little pucks, ready to make a weeknight bowl of noodles taste as if someone planned better than you did.

From Salon ● Jul. 11, 2026

"It's never going to be here again, so I thought it was important to get an ice cream, and stock up with the tubs as well," she said.

From BBC ● May 30, 2026

The trees and the grass and the flower tubs on the terrace were reflected in the mullioned windows.

From "Rebecca" by Daphne du Maurier

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 came down a while later, tubbed and refreshed, in a dainty blue frock, with a black ribbon in her shining curls.

From Captain Jim by Bruce, Mary Grant

The day I left home to be married, I "tubbed" all my little brothers and sisters and washed their fair hair.

From The Story of My Life Recollections and Reflections by Terry, Ellen

The first suggestion that I should go out to be tubbed came from the gray-bearded dean of the college, who happened at the time to be taking me to the master for formal presentation.

From An American at Oxford by Corbin, John

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

From Time ● Jan. 14, 2014

A camel might have lived there with content; it was no place for a family used to the delights of tubbing.

From The Quest of the Simple Life by Dawson, William J.

The whole weight of the tubbing is made to bear on the moss, which squeezes outwards, forming a completely water-tight joint.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 6, Slice 5 "Clervaux" to "Cockade" by Various

And then, in strong contrast, are those who train enough in all conscience with 'gloves,' single-stick, sculls, and all suchlike appliances, and whose works take the form of tubbing, volunteering, and a general jovial philanthropy.

From Piccadilly A Fragment of Contemporary Biography by Oliphant, Laurence

Thus, more and more Ruth turned to the mongrel dog who bore the name of Rollo unflinchingly—the dog that adored her openly, shamelessly, who now without a whimper took his diurnal tubbing.

From The Ragged Edge by MacGrath, Harold