blubber

See also: Blubber

English

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

Whale blubber (etymology 1, noun etymology 1, noun sense 1) prepared as food in the Northwest Territories, Canada.
An Inupiak woman in Alaska, United States, using an ulu (type of traditional knife) to separate the blubber (etymology 1, noun etymology 1, noun sense 1.1) from the hide of a bearded seal (Erignathus barbatusCategory:Entries using missing taxonomic name (species)#Erignathus%20barbatus). The blubber will be rendered into edible liquid seal oil.

Etymology 1

The verb is derived from Late Middle EnglishCategory:English terms inherited from Middle English#BLUBBERCategory:English terms derived from Middle English#BLUBBER bloberen, bluberen (to bubble, seethe);[1] and the noun from Late Middle EnglishCategory:English terms inherited from Middle English#BLUBBERCategory:English terms derived from Middle English#BLUBBER blober, bluber (bubble; bubbling water; foaming waves; fish or whale oil; entrails, intestines; (medicine) pustule),[2] both probably onomatopoeicCategory:English onomatopoeias#BLUBBER, 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.[3][4]

Verb etymology 1, verb sense 1.2 (“to cause (one’s face) to disfigure or swell through crying”) is influenced by blubber (adjective).[3]

Verb

blubber (third-person singular simple present blubbers, present participle blubbering, simple past and past participle blubbered)Category:English lemmas#BLUBBERCategory:English verbs#BLUBBERCategory:English entries with incorrect language header#BLUBBERCategory:Pages with entries#BLUBBERCategory:Pages with 3 entries#BLUBBER

  1. (transitiveCategory:English transitive verbs#BLUBBER)
    1. Often followed by out: to cry out (words) while sobbing.
    2. (archaicCategory:English terms with archaic senses#BLUBBER, also figurative) To wet (one's eyes or face) by crying; to beweep; also, to cause (one's face) to disfigure or swell through crying.
    3. (obsoleteCategory:English terms with obsolete senses#BLUBBER) Often followed by forth: to let (one's tears) flow freely.
  2. (intransitiveCategory:English intransitive verbs#BLUBBER)
    1. (chiefly derogatoryCategory:English derogatory terms#BLUBBER) To cry or weep freely and noisily; to sob.
      Synonyms: see Thesaurus:weep
    2. (obsoleteCategory:English terms with obsolete senses#BLUBBER) To bubble or bubble up; also, to make a bubbling sound like water boiling.
Usage notes

Etymology 1, verb sense 2.1 (“to cry or weep freely and noisily”) is generally used to suggest that a person is crying in an uncontrolled and embarrassing manner, and that the observer finds this unbecoming.[3]

Conjugation
Derived terms
Translations

Noun

blubber (countable and uncountable, plural blubbers)Category:English lemmas#BLUBBERCategory:English nouns#BLUBBERCategory:English uncountable nouns#BLUBBERCategory:English countable nouns#BLUBBERCategory:English countable nouns#BLUBBERCategory:English entries with incorrect language header#BLUBBERCategory:Pages with entries#BLUBBERCategory:Pages with 3 entries#BLUBBER

  1. (uncountableCategory:English uncountable nouns#BLUBBER, countableCategory:English countable nouns#BLUBBER) A fatty layer of adipose tissue found immediately beneath the epidermis of whales and other cetaceans (infraorder Cetacea).
    1. (uncountableCategory:English uncountable nouns#BLUBBER) 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.
      • 1877, Charles W[inslow] Hall, “A Change of Base—Building a Snow-hut—The View from the Berg—A Strange Meeting”, in Adrift in the Ice-fields, Boston, Mass.: Lee and Shepard; New York, N.Y.: Charles T. Dillingham, →OCLC, page 257:
        There were hundred of slaughtered seals, and it was evident that, as far as the eye could reach, the work of death had been complete. Still something had occurred to prevent the hunters from securing their rich booty, for huge piles of skins, with their adhering blubber, were scattered over the ice, and near one was planted firmly in the floe a boat-hook, with a small flag at the top.
        Category:English terms with quotations#BLUBBER
    2. (uncountableCategory:English uncountable nouns#BLUBBER, informalCategory:English informal terms#BLUBBER, chiefly derogatoryCategory:English derogatory terms#BLUBBER and offensiveCategory:English offensive terms#BLUBBER) A person's fat tissue, usually when regarded as excessive and unsightly.
    3. (countableCategory:English countable nouns#BLUBBER, by extension, archaicCategory:English terms with archaic senses#BLUBBER) A jellyfish (subphylum Medusozoa).
      • 1834, [Frederick Marryat], chapter II, in Jacob Faithful [], volume III, London: Saunders and Otley, [], →OCLC, page 23:
        You know, Jacob, that the North Seas are full of these animals—you cannot imagine the quantity of them; the sailors call them blubbers, because they are composed of a sort of transparent jelly, but the real name I am told is Medusæ, that is, the learned name.
        Category:English terms with quotations#BLUBBER
  2. (countableCategory:English countable nouns#BLUBBER, chiefly derogatoryCategory:English derogatory terms#BLUBBER) An act of crying or weeping freely and noisily.
  3. (countableCategory:English countable nouns#BLUBBER, obsoleteCategory:English terms with obsolete senses#BLUBBER) A bubble.
Derived terms
Descendants
Translations

Etymology 2

From blub + -er (suffix forming agent nouns)Category:English terms suffixed with -er (agent noun)#BLUBBER.[5]

Noun

blubber (plural blubbers)Category:English lemmas#BLUBBERCategory:English nouns#BLUBBERCategory:English countable nouns#BLUBBERCategory:English entries with incorrect language header#BLUBBERCategory:Pages with entries#BLUBBERCategory:Pages with 3 entries#BLUBBER

  1. One who blubs (cries or weeps freely and noisily)Category:English links with manual fragments#BLUBBER; a blubberer.
    Synonym: sobber
    Hypernyms: crier, weeper
Translations

Etymology 3

A variant of blabber and blobber, probably influenced by blub and blubber (noun).[6]

Adjective

blubber (not comparable)Category:English lemmas#BLUBBERCategory:English adjectives#BLUBBERCategory:English uncomparable adjectives#BLUBBERCategory:English entries with incorrect language header#BLUBBERCategory:Pages with entries#BLUBBERCategory:Pages with 3 entries#BLUBBER

  1. (archaicCategory:English terms with archaic senses#BLUBBER) Especially of lips: protruding, swollen.
    • 1677 July 5–8 (Gregorian calendar), The London Gazette, number 1211, In the Savoy [London]: Tho[mas] Newcomb, →OCLC, page [2], column 2:
      Henry Blomfield Grocer in Bungay in Suffolk, about 30 years of age, of a middle ſtature, round viſag'd, of a ruddy complexion, having full blubber lips very remarkable, ſhort brovvn hair curling at the ends, on a ſad gray horſe 14 hands high, did on VVedneſday evening the 20 of this inſtant June, leave his Family, and run avvay vvith a Sum of Mony in tvvo black leather Bags. VVhoſoever ſhall diſcover the ſaid Henry Blomfeild,[sic] ſo as to be apprehended, and ſhall give notice to Mr. John Uffing at the Green Dragon in Biſhopſgate-ſtreet, ſhall have five pounds revvard.
      Category:English terms with quotations#BLUBBER
    • 1825 June 22, [Walter Scott], chapter XII, in Tales of the Crusaders. [], volume IV (The Talisman), Edinburgh: [] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co., →OCLC, page 253:
      And what like is the Nubian slave, who comes ambassador on such an errand from the Soldan? [] with black skin, a head curled like a ram's, a flat nose, and blubber lips—ha, worthy Sir Henry?
      Category:English terms with quotations#BLUBBER
Translations

References

  1. bloberen, v.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  2. blober, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  3. 1 2 3 blubber, n.1”, in OED Online Paid subscription required, Oxford: Oxford University Press, December 2024.
  4. blubber1, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022; blubber2, v.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
  5. blubber, n.2”, in OED Online Paid subscription required, Oxford: Oxford University Press, September 2024.
  6. blubber, adj.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required, Oxford: Oxford University Press, September 2024; blubber1, adj.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Further reading

Anagrams

Category:en:Crying#BLUBBERCategory:en:Fats and oils#BLUBBERCategory:en:People#BLUBBER

Dutch

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Borrowed from EnglishCategory:Dutch terms borrowed from English#BLUBBERCategory:Dutch terms derived from English#BLUBBER blubber

Noun

blubber m (uncountable, no diminutive)Category:Dutch lemmas#BLUBBERCategory:Dutch nouns#BLUBBERCategory:Dutch uncountable nouns#BLUBBERCategory:Dutch entries with incorrect language header#BLUBBERCategory:Dutch masculine nouns#BLUBBERCategory:Pages with entries#BLUBBERCategory:Pages with 3 entries#BLUBBER

  1. mud, or anything of similar consistency and slipperiness
  2. blubber, fatty tissue
Derived terms

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

blubberCategory:Dutch non-lemma forms#BLUBBERCategory:Dutch verb forms#BLUBBERCategory:Dutch entries with incorrect language header#BLUBBERCategory:Pages with entries#BLUBBERCategory:Pages with 3 entries#BLUBBER

  1. inflection of blubberen:
    1. first-person singular present indicative
    2. (in case of inversion) second-person singular present indicative
    3. imperative

German

Pronunciation

Verb

blubberCategory:German non-lemma forms#BLUBBERCategory:German verb forms#BLUBBERCategory:German entries with incorrect language header#BLUBBERCategory:Pages with entries#BLUBBERCategory:Pages with 3 entries#BLUBBER

  1. inflection of blubbern:
    1. first-person singular present
    2. singular imperative
Category:Dutch lemmas Category:Dutch masculine nouns Category:Dutch non-lemma forms Category:Dutch nouns Category:Dutch terms borrowed from English Category:Dutch terms derived from English Category:Dutch terms with IPA pronunciation Category:Dutch terms with audio pronunciation Category:Dutch uncountable nouns Category:Dutch verb forms Category:English 2-syllable words Category:English adjectives Category:English countable nouns Category:English derogatory terms Category:English informal terms Category:English intransitive verbs Category:English lemmas Category:English links with manual fragments Category:English nouns Category:English offensive terms Category:English onomatopoeias Category:English terms derived from Middle English Category:English terms inherited from Middle English Category:English terms suffixed with -er (agent noun) Category:English terms with IPA pronunciation Category:English terms with archaic senses Category:English terms with audio pronunciation Category:English terms with obsolete senses Category:English terms with quotations Category:English transitive verbs Category:English uncomparable adjectives Category:English uncountable nouns Category:English verbs Category:Entries using missing taxonomic name (species) Category:Entries with translation boxes Category:German non-lemma forms Category:German terms with audio pronunciation Category:German verb forms Category:Pages with 3 entries Category:Pages with entries Category:Requests for review of Bulgarian translations Category:Requests for translations into Macedonian Category:Rhymes:Dutch/ʏbər Category:Rhymes:Dutch/ʏbər/2 syllables Category:Rhymes:English/ʌbə(ɹ) Category:Rhymes:English/ʌbə(ɹ)/2 syllables Category:Terms with Bulgarian translations Category:Terms with Catalan translations Category:Terms with Czech translations Category:Terms with Finnish translations Category:Terms with French translations Category:Terms with German translations Category:Terms with Greenlandic translations Category:Terms with Hungarian translations Category:Terms with Icelandic translations Category:Terms with Inuktitut translations Category:Terms with Inupiaq translations Category:Terms with Irish translations Category:Terms with Italian translations Category:Terms with Japanese translations Category:Terms with Kyrgyz translations Category:Terms with Macedonian translations Category:Terms with Malay translations Category:Terms with Middle Dutch translations Category:Terms with Māori translations Category:Terms with Norwegian Bokmål translations Category:Terms with Norwegian Nynorsk translations Category:Terms with Portuguese translations Category:Terms with Russian translations Category:Terms with Serbo-Croatian translations Category:Terms with Swedish translations Category:Terms with Ukrainian translations Category:Word of the day archive Category:Word of the day archive/2025 Category:Word of the day archive/2025/October Category:en:Crying Category:en:Fats and oils Category:en:People