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

Be generous with napkins, too, and pro tip: tuck a bus tub — which you can buy online or from a restaurant supply store — somewhere discreet for used dishes.

From Salon ● Oct. 20, 2026

Found near Lechuza Point, the boxy, modern house holds four bedrooms and 5.5 bathrooms across 3,938 square feet, as well as a rooftop deck with a hot tub.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 19, 2026

Its accompanying bathroom is equally luxurious, complete with a statement soaking tub and dual vanities.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 13, 2026

Will £12 for a tub eventually start to put people off though?

From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026

We wrestled over it, laughing as we tried to keep the spray of water toward the tub.

From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu

Someone could usually be counted on to bring ice cream from the shop down the street, and I encouraged everyone to bring plastic tubs or thermoses for leftovers.

From Salon ● Oct. 20, 2026

Pedestrians in plastic rain ponchos trudged through murky floodwaters in Bangkok's east -- knee-deep in some areas of a grocery store parking lot -- floating their belongings in plastic tubs alongside them, AFP journalists saw.

From Barron's ● Sep. 27, 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

“Isaiah doesn’t say which is evil, butter or honey,” Dad said, grinning as my brothers lugged the white tubs to the basement.

From "Educated" by Tara Westover

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

He whistled as he crossed the floor to look out of the window, and as he tubbed he splashed the water about like a boy.

From The Man Who Lost Himself by H. De Vere (Henry De Vere) Stacpoole

Dismissing his servant the subaltern "tubbed" and dressed.

From Wilmshurst of the Frontier Force by Ernest Prater

After a fortnight's tubbing in pair-oars, the better candidates are tubbed daily in fours, and the autumn races are on the horizon.

From An American at Oxford by John Corbin

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

From Time ● Jan. 14, 2014

And thus their domesticity at McClintock's began—with the tubbing of a stray yellow dog.

From The Ragged Edge by Harold MacGrath

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 William J. Dawson

The exterior of this was provided with 12 oak guides, which sliding over the surface of the tubbing had the effect of causing the tube to descend vertically.

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

This caused the tubbing to descend about eight inches more, when it came to a standstill.

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

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