nub
UK/nʌb/
More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations
Ireland/nʊb/
nub noun: the innermost section of a chrysalis in a silk cocoon. Also the alternative spelling of noob.
Noun
nub (plural nubs)
- The innermost section of a chrysalis in a silk cocoon.
- A small knob or lump.
- Synonyms:
- nubbin
- The essence or core of an issue, argument etc.
- What do you think is the nub of the problem?
- Very often, of course, the rambling and disjointed humorous story finishes with a nub, point, snapper, or whatever you like to call it.1895 October 3, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], “How to Tell a Story”, in How to Tell a Story and Other Essays, New York, N.Y.; London: Harper & Brothers, published 1898, →OCLC...
- The clitoris.
- “ — and then rub her nub with the bridge of your nose, right where the nerve will drive her straight to the ceiling!”2007, Melissa MacNeal, Hot for It, →ISBN, page 198
- When he used his fingers to rub her nub, he didn't have to wait anymore. She exploded for the second time that morning,...2008, Arianna Hart, A Man for Marley, →ISBN, page 82
- A pointing stick.
- A passage of Shakespearean blank verse.
- A nub is a passage of blank verse that Shakespearean actors have sometimes relied upon when they forget their lines. It doesn't have to make any sense, but it must sound plausible. To alert the other actors on stage that the speaker is in difficulty, the word nub is used in the first line.2009, David Crystal, Walking English, Overlook Press, page 183
- To an audience a clever nub can pass for Shakespeare himself.2013, Heathcote Williams, Nubbing, Cold Turkey Press
- The genital tubercle.
- nub theory
Verb
nub (third-person singular simple present nubs, present participle nubbing, simple past and past participle nubbed)
- To hit the ball weakly.
- To push; to nudge.
- To beckon.
- To extemporize a passage of Shakespearean blank verse
- In Shall we Shog?, Globe artistic director Mark Rylance hilariously found himself having to nub the Quarto version of Hamlet's speech to the players.2009, David Crystal, Walking English, Overlook Press, page 184
Also used as
nub is also the alternative spelling of noob.
nub is also the acronym of new underway bitch or non-useful body.
nub meaning in Indonesian
nub in Indonesian
- small knob or lump
- tombol
- essence or core of an issue, argument etc.
- inti, sari
Examples of nub in a sentence
- The nub of truth in the “information hiding” view is that programming abstractions are metaphorical.2026, Michael Falk, “Wikilambda the ultimate: the Wikimedia foundation’s search for the perfect language”, in AI & Society: Knowledge...
- He stroked her, using her movements to increase the pressure on her nub, catching her between his fingers.2010, Beverly Rae, Wild Cat, →ISBN, page 81:
Synonyms of nub
30 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Forms of nub
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | nubs |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | nubs |
| present participle | nubbing |
| past participle | nubbed |
| past | nubbed |
Origin of nub
Either directly from Middle Low German, or from knub, from a Middle Low German word (compare Low German Knubbel, Knobbel (“knot; lump”)). Compare knob.
Alternative form.
Acronym.
Words formed from nub
Phrases with nub
Words that rhyme with nub
Questions about nub
- What does nub mean?
- Nub means the innermost section of a chrysalis in a silk cocoon.
- What is nub in Indonesian?
- Nub in Indonesian is tombol, inti, sari. See Nub meaning in Indonesian.
- How do you use nub in a sentence?
- The nub of truth in the “information hiding” view is that programming abstractions are metaphorical.
- What part of speech is nub?
- Nub can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce nub?
- Nub is pronounced /nʌb/ (UK).
- What is the plural of nub?
- The plural of nub is nubs.
Words near nub in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: nub (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-nub.ogg.
Cite this entry: “nub.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/nub. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.