stub

¹

[ stuhb ]

noun

1. a short projecting part.
2. a short remaining piece, as of a pencil, candle, or cigar.
3. (in a checkbook, receipt book, etc.) the inner end of each leaf, for keeping a record of the content of the part filled out and torn away.
4. the returned portion of a ticket.
5. the end of a fallen tree, shrub, or plant left fixed in the ground; stump.
6. something having a short, blunt shape, especially a short-pointed, blunt pen.
7. stub nail.
8. something having the look of incomplete or stunted growth, as a horn of an animal.
9. Bridge. a part-score.

verb (used with object)

, stubbed, stub·bing.

1. to strike accidentally against a projecting object:

   I stubbed my toe against the step.

2. to extinguish the burning end of (a cigarette or cigar) by crushing it against a solid object (often followed by out ):

   He stubbed out the cigarette in the ashtray.

3. to clear of stubs, as land.
4. to dig up by the roots; grub up (roots).

stub

²

[ stuhb ]

adjective

1. stocky; squat.

stub

/ stʌb /

noun

1. a short piece remaining after something has been cut, removed, etc

   a cigar stub

2. the residual piece or section of a receipt, ticket, cheque, etc
3. the part of a cheque, postal order, receipt, etc, detached and retained as a record of the transaction Also called (in Britain) counterfoil
4. any short projection or blunted end
5. the stump of a tree or plant

verb

1. to strike (one's toe, foot, etc) painfully against a hard surface
2. usually foll by out to extinguish (a cigarette or cigar) by pressing the end against a surface
3. to clear (land) of stubs
4. to dig up (the roots) of (a tree or bush)

Other Words From

• stubber noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of stub¹

First recorded before 1000; Middle English noun stubb(e), Old English stybb, stubb, stebb “tree stump”; cognate with Middle Low German, Middle Dutch stubbe, Old Norse stubbi; akin to Old Norse stūfr “stump”; the verb is derivative of the noun

Origin of stub²

First recorded in 1705–15; special use of stub ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of stub¹

Old English stubb; related to Old Norse stubbi, Middle Dutch stubbe, Greek stupos stem, stump

Example Sentences

When the sensor detects movement in a dark room, it will light up so you don’t stub your toe in the middle of the night.

From Popular-Science

Either stubbing your toe or appearing through the grass at about chest height, these walls direct and disrupt your path.

From Quartz

Without it we wouldn’t know if we stubbed our toes or burned our skin.

From Science News For Students

The audit also found the company paid some employees in cash with handmade receipts for which it couldn’t provide stubs.

From Voice of San Diego

I was actually going through check stubs last night and I was going through old paperwork, and I found a bunch of old check stubs from my job and I’m like, “Wow.”

From Ozy

I felt there were a lot of ways that I could spend the stub end of my life cycle that were more productive.

From The Daily Beast

Instead, they were forced to compromise by having him stub out a cigarette.

From The Daily Beast

What did you do—go through his wastebasket and find his pay stub?

From The Daily Beast

Halfway down the hill one of her skis must have struck somethingperhaps the stub of a bush sticking out of the snow.

From Project Gutenberg

With this he severed clean the broken half of the boom, tying the ends of the rigging to the short stub that was left.

From Project Gutenberg

The last sight we have of him is as he violently resists a grown-up sister who is trying to take away the stub!

From Project Gutenberg

He wrote for a few seconds, tore the check from the stub, and handed it to Joyce.

From Project Gutenberg

Then, if you happen to stub your toe over some useful gadget, they increase your pay.

From Project Gutenberg