blubber

American  

[bluhb-er] / ˈblʌb ər /

noun

1. Zoology. the fat layer between the skin and muscle of whales and other cetaceans, from which oil is made.

2. excess body fat.

3. an act of weeping noisily and without restraint.

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verb (used without object)

1. to weep noisily and without restraint.

   Stop blubbering and tell me what's wrong.

verb (used with object)

1. to say, especially incoherently, while weeping.

   The child seemed to be blubbering something about a lost ring.

2. to contort or disfigure (the features) with weeping.

adjective

1. disfigured with blubbering; blubbery.

   She dried her blubber eyes.

2. fatty; swollen; puffed out (usually used in combination).

   thick, blubber lips; blubber-faced.

blubber British  

/ ˈblʌbə /

verb

1. to sob without restraint

2. to utter while sobbing

3. (tr) to make (the face) wet and swollen or disfigured by crying

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noun

1. a thick insulating layer of fatty tissue below the skin of aquatic mammals such as the whale: used by man as a source of oil

2. informal excessive and flabby body fat

3. the act or an instance of weeping without restraint

4. an informal name for jellyfish

adjective

1. (often in combination) swollen or fleshy

   blubber-faced

   blubber-lips

blubber Scientific  

/ blŭb′ər /

1. The thick layer of fat between the skin and the muscle layers of whales and other marine mammals. It insulates the animal from heat loss and serves as a food reserve.

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Other Word Forms

• blubberer noun
• blubberingly adverb

Etymology

Origin of blubber

1250–1300; Middle English bluber bubble, bubbling water, entrails, whale oil; apparently imitative

Explanation

Blubber is the thick layer of fat that keeps whales and other large swimming mammals warm in the cold water. Inuits and other northern people have traditionally relied on eating blubber. Based on marine animal blubber, some people describe human fat as blubber too — often in a derogatory way. When blubber is a verb, it means to sob uncontrollably: "The little girl sat down and started to blubber after skinning her knee." Blubber was originally spelled blober, meaning "a bubble" or "bubbling water," which led to the "crying" meaning of the word. In the 15th century, it also meant "jellyfish" and "whale oil."

Example Sentences

And yet now whales that were once hunted for their oil are falling victim to the effects of the petroleum or “rock oil” that replaced their melted blubber as a source of light and lubrication.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 8, 2026

Their evidence included finding stone harpoon points that hadn’t been used since the mid-1800s embedded in the blubber of whales recently killed by traditional whalers.

From Salon • Dec. 27, 2024

The country is one of only three in the world that still allow whaling - where whales are hunted for their meat, blubber and oil - along with Japan and Norway.

From BBC • Dec. 5, 2024

Typically, testing for DDT looks for four to eight chemicals, but a 2016 paper co-authored by Hoh and Aluwihare identified 45 DDT-related chemicals in the blubber of dolphins from off the coast of Southern California.

From Science Daily • May 6, 2024

At first, when they tried to cook inside with one of the blubber stoves, the oily smoke nearly suffocated the men.

From "Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World" by Jennifer Armstrong

Related Words

• bawl
• cry