bubble

Etymology

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.

noun

1. A spherically contained volume of air or other gas, especially one made from soapy liquid.
2. A small spherical cavity in a solid material.
   bubbles in window glass, or in a lens
3. (by extension) Anything resembling a hollow sphere.
4. (figurative) Anything lacking firmness or solidity; a cheat or fraud; an empty project.
5. (economics) A period of intense speculation in a market, causing prices to rise quickly to irrational levels as the metaphorical bubble expands, and then fall even more quickly as the bubble bursts.
   real estate bubble
   dot-com bubble
   Thanks to the proliferation of semiconductor chips and cell phones—the number of U.S. cell phones grew from essentially zero in 1983 to nearly two hundred million by the end of 2004, and as of 2003 over one billion cell phones were in use worldwide, so by the time the high-tech bubble approached its bursting point in 2000 and 2001, coltan had become an extremely hot commodity. 2007, Elizabeth Grossman, High Tech Trash, Island Press, page 46
6. (figurative) The emotional and/or physical atmosphere in which the subject is immersed.
   Thomas, so often West Brom's most positive attacker down their left side and up against Salgado, twice almost burst the bubble of excitement around the ground but he had two efforts superbly saved by Robinson. January 23, 2011, Alistair Magowan, “Blackburn 2 - 0 West Brom”, in BBC
   He’s wrapped up snugly in a cozy bubble of self-regard, talking for his own sake more than anyone else’s. June 3, 2012, Nathan Rabin, “TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “Mr. Plow” (season 4, episode 9; originally aired 11/19/1992)”, in The A.V. Club
   Citizens of all political persuasions (not to mention members of the Trump administration) can increasingly live in their own news media bubbles, consuming only views similar to their own. 2017-03-21, Michiko Kakutani, “‘The Death of Expertise’ Explores How Ignorance Became a Virtue”, in The New York Times, →ISSN
   Inside the right-wing Facebook bubble, President Trump’s response to Covid-19 has been strong and effective, Joe Biden is barely capable of forming sentences, and Black Lives Matter is a dangerous group of violent looters. 2020-08-27, Kevin Roose, “What if Facebook Is the Real ‘Silent Majority’?”, in New York Times
   "We know we're in a bubble," said one Villager interviewed for the film. "But it's a nice bubble". 2022-02-06, Benedict Brook, “Dark side of paradise: 'Sinister' cracks show in perfect suburb”, in NZ Herald
7. An officer's station in a prison dormitory, affording views on all sides.
   Later that day, the unit was staffed with only one officer, who was required to stay in the bubble. 1998, District of Columbia Appropriations for 1998: Hearings
8. (obsolete) Someone who has been ‘bubbled’ or fooled; a dupe.
   Gany's a cheat, and I'm a bubble. 1709, Matthew Prior, Cupid and Ganymede
   For no woman, sure, will plead the passion of love for an excuse. This would be to own herself the mere tool and bubble of the man. 1749, Henry Fielding, Tom Jones, Folio Society, published 1979, page 15
9. A small, hollow, floating bead or globe, formerly used for testing the strength of spirits.
10. The globule of air in the chamber of a spirit level.
11. (Cockney rhyming slang) A laugh.
    Are you having a bubble?!
12. (Cockney rhyming slang) A Greek.
13. (computing, historical) Any of the small magnetized areas that make up bubble memory.
14. (poker) The point in a poker tournament when the last player without a prize loses all their chips and leaves the game, leaving only players that are going to win prizes. (e.g., if the last remaining 9 players win prizes, then the point when the 10th player leaves the tournament)
    Many players tend to play timidly (not play many hands) around the bubble, to keep their chips and last longer in the game.
15. A group of people who are in quarantine together.
    "There was an empty room and this is my house," Mark Philip told the Herald. "Where am I supposed to go? Whose bubble am I supposed to infect?" April 7, 2020, “Covid 19 coronavirus: Police called after Mt Eden landlord tries to move into flat during lockdown”, in New Zealand Herald
16. Short for travel bubble.
17. (television, slang) A bulb or lamp; the part of a lighting assembly that actually produces the light.
    A bare lamp (bulb, globe, 'bubble') radiates light in all directions. 2013, Gerald Millerson, Lighting for TV and Film, page 296

verb

1. (intransitive) To produce bubbles, to rise up in bubbles (such as in foods cooking or liquids boiling).
   The laminate is bubbling.
2. (intransitive, figurative) To churn or foment, as if wishing to rise to the surface.
   Rage bubbled inside him.
   The blood bubbled up to her brain, and made such a sound there, as of boiling waters, that she did not hear the words which Mr. Bradshaw first spoke […] 1853, Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell, Ruth
   With some technical improvement, I could see how the process of imitating my work would soon become fast and streamlined, and the many dark potentials bubbled to the forefront of my mind. 2022-12-31, Sarah Andersen, “The Alt-Right Manipulated My Comic. Then A.I. Claimed It.”, in The New York Times
3. (intransitive, figurative) To rise through a medium or system, similar to the way that bubbles rise in liquid.
   The target of this event is the most deeply nested common ancestor of all changes that occurred in the document, and it bubbles up the document tree […] 2002, David Flanagan, JavaScript: the definitive guide
4. (transitive, archaic) To cheat, delude.
   No, no, friend, I shall never be bubbled out of my religion in hopes only of keeping my place under another government […] 1749, Henry Fielding, Tom Jones, Folio Society, published 1973, page 443
   He tells me with great passion that she has bubbled him out of his youth; that she drilled him on to five and fifty [years old], and that he verily believes she will drop him in his old age, if she can find her account in another. 1711-06-12, Joseph Addison, The Spectator, number 89; republished in The Works of Joseph Addison, volume 1, New York: Harper & Brothers, 1842, page 142
   I need not tell your Worships, that this was done with so much cunning and artifice, —that the great Locke, who was seldom outwitted by false sounds, was nevertheless bubbled here. 1759, Laurence Sterne, Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman
5. (intransitive, Scotland and Northern England) To cry, weep.
6. (transitive) To pat a baby on the back so as to cause it to belch.
   Groggily her mind went back through the long hours to 10 P.M. She had fed Junior, bubbled him, diped him—according to plan. 1942, McCall’s, volume 69, page 94
   I walked him, pushed him, pulled him, and “bubbled” him, drawing the line at changing him, and found that the ability to bring actual happiness to another being’s face, even such a small red one, simply by walking into the room, made me feel ten feet tall. 1957, Conrad Nicholson Hilton, Be My Guest, page 52
   Mother sat up, picked up baby, put him on shoulder, bubbled him. 1958, David Mordecai Levy, Behavioral analysis: analysis of clinical observations of behavior as applied to mother-newborn relationships, page 358
7. (transitive) To cause to feel as if bubbling or churning.
   It seemed to Adam that he felt the blood in his toes creeping up his legs and body until it reached his brain where, finding it could go no farther, it bubbled him into dumbness: it added to his confusion to know that he looked as if some such accident had befallen his circulation. 1922, Conal O’Riordan, In London: The Story of Adam and Marriage, page 164
   A few minutes more would give him his first glimpse of the village wherein, many months before, he had left his wife and little ones. Anticipation bubbled him into song, and he broke forth into—A la claire fontaine M’en allant promener. 1973, Henry Cecil Walsh, Bonhomme: French-Canadian Stories and Sketches, page 9
   The frothing sensation bubbled him all over, a boiling without heat or any sound or light. 2011, Tim O’Brien, Northern Lights, page 201
8. (transitive) To express in a bubbly or lively manner.
   Mrs. Hinds beamed at Ipsie through pince-nez and bubbled her joy through thin lips, but Ipsie made no reply. 1924, Stella Benson, Pipers and a Dancer, page 14
   Delighted with this promenade, little Edith bubbled her joy without cessation. 1934, Inez Haynes Gillmore, Strange Harvest, page 417
   “She’s a little girl like me,” Beth bubbled. “Her name is Buttons, ’cause she has a small nose. And she has a twin, too, just like me. Only my twin’s name is Carly.” 1999, Mollie Molay, Daddy by Christmas, page 106
   Rachel bubbled her thanks and brushed past the Reverend, me in tow. 2008, Douglas Allen Rhodes, Sex and Murder, page 55
   But Ms. Loomat, far from a negative reaction, bubbled her joy at the news even congratulating Ms Lee on her acquisition. 2012, Andre Paul Goddard, The Blue Basin, page 414
9. (transitive) To form into a protruding round shape.
   She bubbled her lips at Junior and wrinkled her eyes. 1929, The Saturday Evening Post, volume 201, page 50
   She hasn’t bubbled her lips yet, has she? 1978, Poul Anderson, The Night Face and Other Stories, page 159
   I didn’t see much connection between the Bunnies and Michelle—something bubbled her blouses, and I’d heard her whisper with my sister about training bras, but her body was angular, skinny. 2005, Tracy Daugherty, Late in the Standoff: Stories and a Novella, page 17
10. (transitive) To cover with bubbles.
    Her mouth hung slightly open and water droplets bubbled her forehead, like oversized sweat. 1994, Jonathan Kellerman, Bad Love, page 57
    Tears of thanksgiving bubbled her eyes and blurred her vision. 2005, Syne Mitchell, End in Fire, page 187
    Oily beads of sweat bubbled his forehead. 2007, Jason Blacker, Black Dog Bleeding, page 8
11. (transitive) To bubble in; to mark a response on a form by filling in a circular area (‘bubble’).
    Cross out answers as you eliminate them, and practice bubbling your answers on the sheet provided at the very end of the book. 2011, Allison Amend, Adam Robinson, Cracking the SAT.: Literature Subject Test, page 126
    They bubbled her answers on Scantron tests, changed her sanitary napkins, helped her get in and out of the bathroom with a minimum of fuss. 2014, Cammie McGovern, Say What You Will
    You don’t want to go back and forth between the test booklet and your answer sheet to bubble your answers. 2019, Crash Course for the ACT, 6th Edition: Your Last-Minute Guide to Scoring High, page 15
12. (computing) To apply a filter bubble, as to search results.
    Please don't bubble me; just give me the stories I need to hear.
13. (intransitive) To join together in a support bubble