tube

B1 Topic:General Vocabulary

US /tuːb/ See IPA manual

Freq #3929

Meanings

1

noun
A long, hollow object shaped like a pipe.

The doctor passed a thin tube down the patient's throat.
2

noun
A soft container with a screw cap that you squeeze to push out a paste or cream.

I need to buy a new tube of toothpaste.
3

noun
The underground railway system in London.

I took the tube to Waterloo and walked the rest of the way.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

3 noun · the underground railway... underground

Word family

Forms tubes

Derived forms blowtubebuckytubecryotubedowntubedrawtubefiretubefishing-tubeflashtubefluxtubeheadtubehemotubeimmunotube

Appears in

Phrases (3)

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Proverbs (1)

See all

You can't put toothpaste back in the tube

Etymology

From Middle French tube, from Latin tubus (“tube, pipe”), related to tuba (“long trumpet; war-trumpet”), of obscure ultimate origin, but possibly connected to tībia (“shinbone, reed-pipe”); see there. Doublet of tubus.

tube Middle French tubus Latin

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Topics

General Vocabulary

External links

# tube

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /tuːb/
**Frequency rank:** 3929

## Meanings
1. A long, hollow object shaped like a pipe.
2. A soft container with a screw cap that you squeeze to push out a paste or cream.
3. The underground railway system in London.

## Examples
- The doctor passed a thin tube down the patient's throat.
- I need to buy a new tube of toothpaste.
- I took the tube to Waterloo and walked the rest of the way.

## Derived Forms
- blowtube
- buckytube
- cryotube
- downtube
- drawtube
- firetube
- fishing-tube
- flashtube
- fluxtube
- headtube
- hemotube
- immunotube

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: tube
- Root: tubus

## Etymology
From Middle French tube, from Latin tubus (“tube, pipe”), related to tuba (“long trumpet; war-trumpet”), of obscure ultimate origin, but possibly connected to tībia (“shinbone, reed-pipe”); see there. Doublet of tubus.

## AI Etymology
Tube is from Middle French tube, from Latin tubus (“tube, pipe”), related to tuba (“long trumpet; war-trumpet”), of obscure ultimate origin, but possibly connected to tībia (“shinbone, reed-pipe”); see there. Doublet of tubus. The historical line also includes Middle French tube, Latin tubus. In present-day use, it can mean a long, hollow object shaped like a pipe, or a soft container with a screw cap that you squeeze to push out a paste or cream. Derived formations include blowtube, buckytube, cryotube, downtube, drawtube, firetube, fishing-tube, flashtube.

## Topics
- General Vocabulary

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