cub

¹ American  

[kuhb] / kʌb /

noun

1. the young of certain animals, as the bear, lion, or tiger.

2. a young shark.

3. a young and inexperienced person, especially a callow youth or young man.

4. a young person serving as an apprentice.

5. cub reporter.

6. cub scout.

7. (initial capital letter) any small, light monoplane with a high wing, a single engine, and an enclosed cabin.

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verb (used without object)

cubbed, cubbing

1. to work as a cub reporter.

2. (of a female bear, lion, tiger, etc.) to give birth to a cub or cubs.

3. to hunt fox cubs.

cub. ² American  

abbreviation

1. cubic.

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cub ¹ British  

/ kʌb /

noun

1. the young of certain animals, such as the lion, bear, etc

2. a young or inexperienced person

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verb

1. to give birth to (cubs)

Cub ² British  

/ kʌb /

noun

1. short for Cub Scout

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Other Word Forms

• cubbish adjective
• cubbishly adverb

Etymology

Origin of cub

First recorded in 1520–30; perhaps from Scandinavian; compare Old Norse kobbi “young seal,” kubbr “stump,” hence, “short, thick-set person”

Example Sentences

A mother polar bear and her three cubs pause after a long journey along the Hudson Bay coast.

From BBC

“Home” is a concept that Chase, a newly orphaned cheetah cub, struggles to make sense of.

From The Wall Street Journal

“The Monrovia City Council requested and lobbied for the bear and her cubs to be relocated into the Angeles National Forest but the decision was never the City’s to make.”

From Los Angeles Times

The wolf cub looked about three moons old.

From Literature

It is thought the fox chose to create a den on one of the the islands there because it gives her cubs greater security.

From BBC