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Added 9 October 2026

bubble

/ˈbʌbəl/ noun

In Latin: bulla First recorded: 1720 Wiktionary

noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about bubble at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

A hollow globule of gas (e.g., air or carbon dioxide).
A speculative scheme that depends on unstable factors that the planner cannot control.
his proposal was nothing but a house of cards
An impracticable and illusory idea.
he didn't want to burst the newcomer's bubble

verb

Form, produce, or emit bubbles.
The soup was bubbling
Flow in an irregular current with a bubbling noise.
babbling brooks
Rise in bubbles or as if in bubbles.
bubble to the surface

Origin

Partly imitative, also influenced by burble. Compare Middle Dutch bobbe (“bubble”) > Dutch bubbel (“bubble”), Low German bubbel (“bubble”), Danish boble (“bubble”), Swedish bubbla (“bubble”). The word was first used in its economic sense in association with the collapse of the South Sea Company in 1720, based on the metaphor of an inflated soap bubble bursting.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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