tube

• POS: Noun, Verb (transitive)

CIDE DICTIONARY

tube, n. [L. tubus; akin to tuba a trumpet: cf F. tube.].

•  A hollow cylinder, of any material, used for the conveyance of fluids, and for various other purposes; a pipe.  [1913 Webster]
•  A telescope.  Milton.  [1913 Webster]
•  A vessel in animal bodies or plants, which conveys a fluid or other substance.  [1913 Webster]
•  The narrow, hollow part of a gamopetalous corolla.  [1913 Webster]
•  A priming tube, or friction primer. See under Priming, and Friction.  [1913 Webster]
•  A small pipe forming part of the boiler, containing water and surrounded by flame or hot gases, or else surrounded by water and forming a flue for the gases to pass through.  [1913 Webster]
•  A more or less cylindrical, and often spiral, case secreted or constructed by many annelids, crustaceans, insects, and other animals, for protection or concealment. See Illust. of Tubeworm.  [1913 Webster]
•  A tunnel for a tube railway; also (Colloq.), a tube railway; a subway.

  "In the New York area, the subways running under the Hudson River are sometimes referred to as the tube."  [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

Capillary tube, a tube of very fine bore. See Capillary. -- Fire tube (Steam Boilers), a tube which forms a flue. -- Tube coral. (Zoöl.) Same as Tubipore. -- Tube foot (Zoöl.), one of the ambulacral suckers of an echinoderm. -- Tube plate, or Tube sheet (Steam Boilers), a flue plate. See under Flue. -- Tube pouch (Mil.), a pouch containing priming tubes. -- Tube spinner (Zoöl.), any one of various species of spiders that construct tubelike webs. They belong to Tegenaria, Agelena, and allied genera. -- Water tube (Steam Boilers), a tube containing water and surrounded by flame or hot gases.

tube, v. t. 

 To furnish with a tube; as, to tube a well.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

tube, n. & v.
--n.
1 a long hollow rigid or flexible cylinder, esp. for holding or carrying air, liquids, etc.
2 a soft metal or plastic cylinder sealed at one end and having a screw cap at the other, for holding a semi-liquid substance ready for use (a tube of toothpaste).
3 Anat. & Zool. a hollow cylindrical organ in the body (bronchial tubes; Fallopian tubes).
4 (often prec. by the) colloq. the London underground railway system (went by tube).
5 a a cathode-ray tube esp. in a television set. b (prec. by the) esp. US colloq. television.
6 US a thermionic valve.
7 = inner tube.
8 the cylindrical body of a wind instrument.
9 Austral. sl. a can of beer.
--v.tr.
1 equip with tubes.
2 enclose in a tube.

Derivative

tubeless adj. (esp. in sense 7 of n.). tubelike adj.

Etymology

F tube or L tubus

THESAURUS

tube

Amtrak, L, Photronic cell, adjutage, amplifier, anode, attenuator, audio-frequency tube, baggage train, ballast regulator, ballast tube, barrel, base, beam-switching tube, bole, branch, cable railroad, cable railway, cask, catheter, cathode, cathode-ray tube, channel, choo-choo, cog railroad, cog railway, color kinescope, column, convertor, current regulator, cylinder, cylindroid, damper, detector, direct-viewing tube, discharge tube, discriminator, dissector tube, doubler, drainpipe, drum, efflux tube, el, electric, electric railway, electric train, electrode, electron-image tube, elevated, elevated railway, embankment, express, express train, feeder, feeder line, filament, fire hose, flier, flue pipe, flume, focus tube, freight, freight train, freighter, funicular, funnel, garden hose, gas phototube, gas pipe, generator, goods train, gravity-operated railway, grid, horse railway, hose, hosepipe, iconoscope, image dissector, image iconoscope, interurban, inverter, junction, kinescope, light railroad, lightning express, limited, limiter, line, local, local-oscillator tube, main line, metro, milk train, mixer tube, modulator, monorail, monoscope, multiplier, multiplier phototube, multipurpose tube, multivibrator, nipple, organ pipe, oscillator, output tube, parliamentary, parliamentary train, passenger train, phase inverter, photocathode, photoconductor cell, photomultiplier tube, phototube, photovoltaic cell, picture tube, pillar, pipe, pipeline, pipette, piping, plate, power tube, pulse generator, put through channels, rack railway, rack-and-pinion railroad, rack-and-pinion railway, radio tube, radio-frequency tube, rail, rail line, railroad, railroad train, railway, rattler, receiving tube, rectifier tube, reed, reed pipe, regulator, repeater, roadbed, roadway, roll, roller, rolling stock, rouleau, shuttle, shuttle train, siamese, siamese connection, sidetrack, siding, siphon, snorkel, soft phototube, soil pipe, special, standpipe, steam pipe, stem, straw, streamliner, street railway, streetcar line, subway, switchback, tap, terminal, terminus, track, train, tram, tramline, transducer, trestle, trigatron, trigger tube, trolley line, trunk, trunk line, tubing, tubulation, tubule, tubulet, tubulure, turnout, underground, vacuum phototube, vacuum tube, valve, waste pipe, water pipe, way train

ROGET THESAURUS

tube

Opening

N opening, hole, foramen, puncture, perforation, fontanel, transforation, pinhole, keyhole, loophole, porthole, peephole, mousehole, pigeonhole, eye of a needle, eyelet, slot, opening, aperture, apertness, hiation, yawning, oscitancy, dehiscence, patefaction, pandiculation, chasm, embrasure, window, casement, abatjour, light, sky light, fan light, lattice, bay window, bow window, oriel, dormer, lantern, outlet, inlet, vent, vomitory, embouchure, orifice, mouth, sucker, muzzle, throat, gullet, weasand, wizen, nozzle, placket, portal, porch, gate, ostiary, postern, wicket, trapdoor, hatch, door, arcade, cellarway, driveway, gateway, doorway, hatchway, gangway, lich gate, way, path, thoroughfare, channel, passage, passageway, tube, pipe, water pipe, air pipe, vessel, tubule, canal, gut, fistula, adjutage, ajutage, ostium, smokestack, chimney, flue, tap, funnel, gully, tunnel, main, mine, pit, adit, shaft, gallery, alley, aisle, glade, vista, bore, caliber, pore, blind orifice, fulgurite, thundertube, porousness, porosity, sieve, cullender, colander, cribble, riddle, screen, honeycomb, apertion, perforation, piercing, terebration, empalement, pertusion, puncture, acupuncture, penetration, key, opener, master key, password, combination, passe- partout, open, perforated, perforate, wide open, ajar, unclosed, unstopped, oscitant, gaping, yawning, patent, tubular, cannular, fistulous, pervious, permeable, foraminous, vesicular, vasicular, porous, follicular, cribriform, honeycombed, infundibular, riddled, tubulous, tubulated, piped, tubate, opening, aperient, Int, open sesame!.