blubber
noun
No English definition recorded for this entry.
L317127 on Wikidata ↗verb
- to cry in a noisy and childish way
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈblʌbə/ / /ˈblʌbəɹ/ / /ˈblʊbəɹ/
adj
Etymology: A variant of blabber and blobber, probably influenced by blub and blubber (noun).
- Especially of lips: protruding, swollen.
“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.”
“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?”
noun
Etymology: From blub + -er (suffix forming agent nouns).
- One who blubs (“cries or weeps freely and noisily”); a blubberer.
“[T]hree of the boys, of whom Mr. Hector was sometimes one, used to come in the morning as his humble attendants, and carry him [Johnson] to school. […] The purfly, sand-blind lubber and blubber, with his open mouth, and face of bruised honeycomb; yet already dominant, imperial, irresistible!”
“It was really emotional. I am a blubber at the best of times. I had only been there for 18 months and found it upsetting so it was really hard for the people that had been there for 18 years.”
verb
Etymology: The verb is derived from Late Middle English bloberen, bluberen (“to bubble, seethe”); and the noun from Late Middle English blober, bluber (“bubble; bubbling water; foaming waves; fish or whale oil; entrails, intestines; (medicine) pustule”), both probably onomatopoeic, 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. Verb etymology 1, verb sense 1.2 (“to cause (one’s face) to disfigure or swell through crying”) is influenced by blubber (adjective).
- Often followed by out: to cry out (words) while sobbing.
“Here Bliſil ſighed bitterly; upon vvhich VVeſtern, vvhoſe Eyes vvere full of Tears at the praiſe of Sophia, blubbered out, 'Don't be Chicken-hearted, for ſhat ha her, d—n me, ſhat ha her, if ſhe vvas tvventy Times as good.'”
- To wet (one's eyes or face) by crying; to beweep; also, to cause (one's face) to disfigure or swell through crying.
“Her ſvvollen eyes vvere much diſfigured, / And her faire face vvith teares vvas fovvly blubbered.”
“As God sees the water in the spring in the veins of the earth, before it bubble upon the face of the earth; so God sees tears in the heart of a man, before they blubber his face; God hears the tears of that sorrowful soul, which for sorrow cannot shed tears.”
- Often followed by forth: to let (one's tears) flow freely.
“Looke on this tree, vvhich blubbereth Amber gum / vvhich ſeemes to ſpeak to thee, though it be dumb, / VVhich being ſenceles blocks, as thou do'ſt ſee, / VVeepe at my vvoes, that thou might'ſt pitty mee: […]”
“Behold her novv in humble guiſe, / Upon her knees vvith dovvncaſt eyes / Before the Prieſt: ſhe thus begins, / And ſobbing, blubbers forth her ſins; […]”
- To cry or weep freely and noisily; to sob.
“What weepe? fye for ſhame, and blubber? for manhods ſake, / Neuer lette your foe ſo muche pleaſure of you take.”
“VVhere are you, vvife? my Celia? vvhat, blubbering? / Come, drye thoſe teares, I thinke, thou thought'ſt mee in earneſt?”
- To bubble or bubble up; also, to make a bubbling sound like water boiling.