<B>bubble, </B>noun, verb, <B>-bled,</B> <B>-bling,</B> adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a thin, round film of liquid enclosing air or gas. When water boils, it is full of bubbles, which come to the top and break. <DD><B> 2. </B>a round space filled with air or gas in a liquid or solid. Sometimes there are bubbles in ice or glass. <DD><B> 3. </B>a quantity of air or gas occluded within a liquid, such as the portion of air left in a spirit level. <DD><B> 4. </B>any spherical or dome-shaped structure, usually transparent. <BR> <I>Ex. This area will be shielded by a plastic "bubble" for all-weather dining (New York Times).</I> <DD><B> 5a. </B>the act or process of bubbling. <DD><B> b. </B>the sound of bubbling. <DD><B> 6. </B>(Figurative.) a plan or idea that looks good, but soon goes to pieces. <BR> <I>Ex. the great South Sea bubble.</I> <DD><B> 7. </B>(Figurative.) anything lacking firmness, permanence, substance, or reality. <BR> <I>Ex. Seeking the bubble reputation Even in the cannon's mouth (Shakespeare).</I> <DD><B> 8. </B>a bubbletop. <DD><B> 9a. </B><B>=magnetic bubble.</B> <DD><B> b. </B><B>=bubble memory.</B> <DD><B> 10. </B>(Astronomy.) a region of significantly higher temperature and lower density in the interstellar gas of space. <BR> <I>Ex. Bubbles are detected by telescopic instruments that measure gas temperature and density (Malcolm W. Browne).</I> <DD><I>v.i. </I> <B>1. </B>to send up or rise in bubbles; have bubbles; make bubbles. <BR> <I>Ex. Water bubbled up between the stones.</I> (SYN) effervesce. <DD><B> 2. </B>to make sounds like water boiling; gurgle. <BR> <I>Ex. The baby bubbled and cooed.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>(Figurative.) to arise or issue like bubbles; overflow (with feeling). <BR> <I>Ex. to bubble with joy or laughter.</I> <DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1a. </B>to cause to bubble. <DD><B> b. </B>to burp (an infant). <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) to overflow with (feeling). <BR> <I>Ex. He is a very cheerful and enthusiastic officer who bubbles energy and good will (Manchester Guardian Weekly).</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>(Archaic.) to swindle. <DD><I>adj. </I> unsubstantial; fragile; delusive. <BR><I>expr. <B>bubble over,</B> <DD><B> a. </B>to be very full; overflow. </I> <I>Ex. The water bubbled over on the stove.</I> <DD><B> b. </B>to overflow with feeling. <BR> <I>Ex. Suzanne fairly bubbles over with high spirits (London Times).</I> <DD><B> c. </B>to be very enthusiastic. <BR> <I>Ex. The boys bubbled over at the idea of an overnight camping trip.</I> adv. <B>bubblingly.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="bubbleandsqueak">
<B>bubble and squeak,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a traditional English dish, usually consisting of beef and cabbage. </DL>
<A NAME="bubblebath">
<B>bubble bath,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a bath covered with soap bubbles, made by adding a liquid or powdery soap preparation to water. </DL>
<A NAME="bubblecar">
<B>bubble car,</B> =bubbletop car.</DL>
<A NAME="bubblechamber">
<B>bubble chamber,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a small vessel filled with a very hot liquid through which charged subatomic particles leave tracks of bubbles. In this way they can be examined and identified. Hydrogen or propane under pressure are the liquids most commonly used. <BR> <I>Ex. Occasionally while passing through a bubble chamber a gamma ray creates secondary electrons, which are evident as a string of bubbles (Scientific American).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="bubblegum">
<B>bubble gum,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a chewing gum that can be blown out through the lips so as to form a large bubble. </DL>
<A NAME="bubblememory">
<B>bubble memory,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a computer memory that has data stored in magnetic bubbles. <BR> <I>Ex. Bubble memories might someday achieve densities up to a billion bits per square inch. ... If this density is achieved, bubble memories will probably replace most disks and drums and provide much faster access at a comparable cost (John R. Rice).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="bubbler">
<B>bubbler, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a drinking fountain with a small nozzle from which water bubbles up. </DL>
<A NAME="bubbletop">
<B>bubbletop, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a transparent plastic top or canopy, often retractable, on an automobile or airplane; bubble. <DD><B> 2. </B><B>=bubbletop car.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="bubbletopcar">
<B>bubbletop car,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> an automobile with a bubbletop. <BR> <I>Ex. He stood and waved from the rear of his open bubbletop car along ... a winding 33-mile motorcade route (Newsweek).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="bubbly">
<B>bubbly, </B>adjective, <B>-blier,</B> <B>-bliest,</B> noun, pl. <B>-blies.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>full of bubbles; effervescent. <BR> <I>Ex. bubbly champagne.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>like a bubble. <DD><B> 3. </B>very lively; ebullient. <BR> <I>Ex. bubbly dance music.</I> <DD><I>noun </I> (Slang.) champagne. <BR> <I>Ex. In some districts of London ... a wine merchant will stock little more than British wines among the beer and spirits, although one can usually find a bottle of 'bubbly' for festive occasions (Listener).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="bubblyjock">
<B>bubbly jock,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Scottish.) a turkey. </DL>
<A NAME="bubby">
<B>bubby, </B>noun, pl. <B>-bies.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Informal.) <B>=bub.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="bubo">
<B>bubo, </B>noun, pl. <B>-boes.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> an inflammatory swelling of a lymph gland, especially in the groin or armpits. </DL>
<A NAME="bubonic">
<B>bubonic, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> having or characterized by inflammatory swelling of the lymph glands. </DL>
<A NAME="bubonicplague">
<B>bubonic plague,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a very dangerous contagious disease, accompanied by high fever, chills, and swelling of the lymph glands. It is usually carried to human beings by fleas from rats or squirrels. </DL>
<A NAME="bubonocele">
<B>bubonocele, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> inguinal hernia, especially a partial one that extends only far enough to make a small swelling in the groin like a bubo. </DL>
<A NAME="bubu">
<B>bubu, </B>noun. =boubou.</DL>
<A NAME="buccal">
<B>buccal, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>of the cheek. <DD><B> 2. </B>of the sides of the mouth or the mouth. </DL>
<A NAME="buccaneer">
<B>buccaneer, </B>noun, verb.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> a pirate, especially one who preyed upon Spanish vessels and colonies in the 1600's and 1700's. <BR> <I>Ex. ... a buccaneer or pirate in the Spanish Main (John Hill Burton).</I> <DD><I>v.i. </I> to act as a buccaneer; be a buccaneer. <BR> <I>Ex. Wealth, which it was whispered he had acquired by buccaneering (Washington Irving).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="buccaneerish">
<B>buccaneerish, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> like a buccaneer. <BR> <I>Ex. From his black beard and buccaneerish sort of look, a sailor would suppose it to be Davy Jones (Robert Southey).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="buccinator">
<B>buccinator, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a thin, flat muscle which forms the wall of the cheek, assisting in chewing and also in blowing wind instruments. </DL>
<A NAME="buccinatory">
<B>buccinatory, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>of or having to do with a trumpeter or trumpeting. <DD><B> 2. </B>of or having to do with a buccinator. </DL>
<A NAME="bucentaur">
<B>bucentaur</B> (1), noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the state barge in which on Ascension Day the doge of Venice went to wed the Adriatic by dropping a ring into it. </DL>
<A NAME="bucentaur">
<B>bucentaur</B> (2), noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a legendary monster, half man and half bull. </DL>
<A NAME="bucephalus">
<B>Bucephalus, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the war horse of Alexander the Great. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Humorous.) any riding horse. </DL>
<A NAME="buchmanism">
<B>Buchmanism, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a religious movement founded in the 1920's that emphasizes a personal rededication to the moral principles of Christianity rather than adherence to the forms of doctrines of ecclesiastical religion; Moral Re-Armament; Oxford Group. </DL>
<A NAME="buchmanite">
<B>Buchmanite, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> an adherent of Buchmanism. </DL>
<A NAME="buchu">
<B>buchu, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the medicinal, aromatic leaves of several shrubby South African plants. </DL>
<A NAME="buck">
<B>buck</B> (1), noun, pl. <B>bucks</B> or (collectively) <B>buck,</B> adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a male deer, goat, hare, rabbit, antelope, or sheep (but not applied to a male elk, moose, or red deer). <DD><B> 2. </B>a dashing young man; dandy. <BR> <I>Ex. the ... young buck, driving his own equipage (Washington Irving).</I> (SYN) fop. <DD><B> 3. </B>(Informal.) a man. <DD><B> 4. </B><B>=buckskin.</B> <DD><I>adj. </I> male. <BR> <I>Ex. a buck rabbit.</I> </DL>
