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Added 9 October 2026

stub

/stʌb/ noun

noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about stub at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

Something blunted, stunted, or cut short, such as stubble or a stump.
A piece of certain paper items, designed to be torn off and kept for record or identification purposes.
check stub
A placeholder procedure that has the signature of the planned procedure but does not yet implement the intended behavior.

verb

To remove most of a tree, bush, or other rooted plant by cutting it close to the ground.
To remove a plant by pulling it out by the roots.
To jam, hit, or bump, especially a toe.
I stubbed my toe trying to find the light switch in the dark.

Origin

From Middle English stubbe (“tree stump”), from Old English stybb, stubb (“tree stump”), from Proto-West Germanic *stubb, from Proto-Germanic *stubbaz (compare Middle Dutch stubbe, Old Norse stubbr, Faroese stubbi (“stub”)), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)tew-; compare steep (“sharp slope”). Doublet of stob. Sense extended in Middle English to similarly shaped objects. Verb sense “strike one’s toe” is recorded 1848; “extinguish a cigarette” 1927.

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

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