blubber
Meanings
Plural: blubber, blubbered, blubbers
Noun
- an insulating layer of fat under the skin of whales and other large marine mammals; used as a source of oil
- excess bodily weight
- A fatty layer of adipose tissue found immediately beneath the epidermis of whales and other cetaceans (infraorder Cetacea).
- A fatty layer of adipose tissue found in other animals which keeps them warm, especially Arctic animals such as sea lions and Antarctic animals such as penguins.
- A fatty layer of adipose tissue found immediately beneath the epidermis of whales and other cetaceans (infraorder Cetacea).
- A person's fat tissue, usually when regarded as excessive and unsightly.
- A fatty layer of adipose tissue found immediately beneath the epidermis of whales and other cetaceans (infraorder Cetacea).
- A jellyfish (subphylum Medusozoa).
- A fatty layer of adipose tissue found immediately beneath the epidermis of whales and other cetaceans (infraorder Cetacea).
- An act of crying or weeping freely and noisily.
- A bubble.
- One who blubs (“cries or weeps freely and noisily”); a blubberer.
Verb
- cry or whine with snuffling
- utter while crying
- Often followed by out: to cry out (words) while sobbing.
- To wet (one's eyes or face) by crying; to beweep; also, to cause (one's face) to disfigure or swell through crying.
- Often followed by forth: to let (one's tears) flow freely.
- To cry or weep freely and noisily; to sob.
- To bubble or bubble up; also, to make a bubbling sound like water boiling.
Adj
- Especially of lips: protruding, swollen.
Origin / Etymology
The verb is derived from Late Middle English bloberen, bluberen (“to bubble, seethe”); and the noun from Late Middle English blober, bluber (“bubble; bubbling water; foaming waves; fish or whale oil; entrails, intestines; (medicine) pustule”), both probably onomatopoeic, representing the movement or sound of a bubbling liquid, or the movement of lips forming bubbles (compare bleb and blob, thought to be similarly imitative). As both the verb and noun are attested in the 14th century, it is difficult to tell which one developed first; the Oxford English Dictionary suggests that the noun may be derived from the verb.
Verb sense 1.2 (“to cause (one’s face) to disfigure or swell through crying”) is influenced by blubber (adjective).
Synonyms
avoirdupois, beweep, blub, blubber out, burst into tears, cry, cry one's eyes out, fat, fatness, greet, shed a tear, shed tears, sniffle, snivel, snuffle, sobber, squirt some, wail, weep
Antonyms
Scrabble Score: 13
blubber is a valid Scrabble (US) TWL wordblubber is a valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
blubber is a valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary