tube
Americannoun
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tubes
plural
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a hollow, usually cylindrical body of metal, glass, rubber, or other material, used especially for conveying or containing liquids or gases.
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a small, collapsible, cylinder of metal or plastic sealed at one end and having a capped opening at the other from which paint, toothpaste, or some other semifluid substance may be squeezed.
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Anatomy, Zoology. any hollow, cylindrical vessel or organ.
the bronchial tubes.
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Botany.
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any hollow, elongated body or part.
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the united lower portion of a gamopetalous corolla or a gamosepalous calyx.
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Electronics. electron tube.
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Informal.
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a television set.
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the tubular tunnel in which an underground railroad runs.
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the railroad itself.
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Surfing Slang. the curled hollow formed on the underside of a cresting wave.
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British. subway.
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Australian Slang. a can of beer.
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Older Slang. a telescope.
verb (used with object)
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to furnish with a tube or tubes.
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to convey or enclose in a tube.
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to form into the shape of a tube; make tubular.
idioms
noun
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a long hollow and typically cylindrical object, used for the passage of fluids or as a container
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a collapsible cylindrical container of soft metal or plastic closed with a cap, used to hold viscous liquids or pastes
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anatomy
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short for Eustachian tube Fallopian tube
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any hollow cylindrical structure
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botany
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the lower part of a gamopetalous corolla or gamosepalous calyx, below the lobes
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any other hollow structure in a plant
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US and Canadian equivalent: subway. Also called: the underground. an underground railway system
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the tunnels through which the railway runs
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the train itself
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(capital) the London underground railway system
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electronics
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another name for valve
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slang a television set
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slang a stupid or despicable person
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slang a bottle or can of beer
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surfing the cylindrical passage formed when a wave breaks and the crest tips forward
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an archaic word for telescope
verb
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to fit or supply with a tube or tubes
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to carry or convey in a tube
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to shape like a tube
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of tube
First recorded in 1590–1600, tube is from the Latin word tubus pipe
Explanation
A tube is a pipe shape, a cylinder with a hollow space inside. If you're like most people, you sip your milkshake through a straw — a long, plastic tube. Chemists use glass tubes in labs, and plumbers work with pipes — tubes made of plastic and metal. Another kind of tube is the rubber one inside a tire. If you slide down a snowy hillside on an inflated tire tube, or ride through choppy water while sitting on one, you can also use tube as a verb. Though it's not true in the US, in London the subway is also familiarly known as the Tube.
Vocabulary lists containing tube
"Hitching a Ride"
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Least Presidential Vocabulary Used by Presidential Candidates during the GOP Debate (Sept. 16, 2015)
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Protestors, a few dozen, turned up outside the nearest tube stop waving flags as ticket holders streamed towards Lincoln Financial Field - but the concert proceeded largely unfettered.
From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2026
Rita called one of the chief investigators, Bobby Bowen, a sheriff’s lieutenant, and urged him to speak with Roebuck, who was able to talk now that a tube had been removed from his mouth.
From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026
“I genuinely thought I was going to die,” said Kyleigh Thurman, whose right fallopian tube ruptured after she struggled to get ectopic care in Texas in 2023.
From Salon ● Sep. 13, 2026
When a seal like Violet won’t eat on its own, caretakers use a tube to feed it.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2026
I run from a green flare shooting out of Taylor’s tube.
From "Wayward Creatures" by Dayna Lorentz
“Scabbards for Type 30 bayonets were made of bamboo, and bamboo tubes were given in place of the standard metal canteens.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
After thousands of passes over the Moon, researchers have assembled maps precise enough to identify new craters, landslides, spacecraft landers, seismic faults, and possible signs of lava tubes.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 18, 2026
His breathing, feeding and toileting are all done through tubes at the neurological rebab centre where he is being cared for.
From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2026
Once a recipe is chosen, clientele relax; zoning out in nearby chairs as glass tubes alight and the machine purrs from within.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026
The counter is dotted with little plastic tubes and glass bottles of my makeup.
From "How to Disappear Completely" by Ali Standish
This device comes in two forms, tubed and tubeless.
From BBC ● Dec. 14, 2024
The Faroe Islands is a self-governing archipelago within the Kingdom of Denmark, where there is also a strong affinity for meat served in tubed form.
From Salon ● Nov. 18, 2024
The opening of the tubed slide was small, and I thought I should lie down to avoid whacking my head.
From New York Times ● Aug. 24, 2017
He was a tall Dane, holding a tubed black device that he called a smoking gun.
From The New Yorker ● Apr. 4, 2016
“Catch hold, uncle,” cried Rodd, and he held out the telescope with one hand, and the captain’s big mahogany tubed spy-glass, decorated with coloured flags, with the other.
From The Ocean Cat's Paw The Story of a Strange Cruise by W. S. (Walter S.) Stacey
In one video, the workers unwind a line of black tubing, or conduit, from a spool the size of a small car, before feeding it into the ground.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 19, 2026
Certain lots were found to have internal tubing tears, which risk under-delivering insulin to patients.
From Barron's ● Apr. 30, 2026
The original system, which used electric coils, failed during the legendary Ice Bowl in 1967, but the modern hydronic system, installed in 1997, relies on heated water circulated through underground tubing and is reliable.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 31, 2025
He took out a piece of surgical tubing and said, “Put this in your mouth.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 15, 2025
Mr. Brightwell shook his head at my request for steel tubing.
From "October Sky" by Homer Hickam
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
