bubble

noun

people who agree to create a group in which physical distancing measures are not mandatory

L253654 on Wikidata ↗

verb

emit in bubbly fashion

L313106 on Wikidata ↗

Wiktionary

Pronunciation: /ˈbʌb.l̩/ / [ˈbʌ.bl̩] / /ˈbʌbl̩/

noun

Etymology: Partly imitative, also influenced by burble. Compare Middle Dutch bobbe (“bubble”) > Dutch bubbel (“bubble”), Low German bubbel (“bubble”), Danish boble (“bubble”), Swedish bubbla (“bubble”). The word was first used in its economic sense in association with the collapse of the South Sea Company in 1720, based on the metaphor of an inflated soap bubble bursting.

A spherically contained volume of air or other gas, especially one made from soapy liquid.
A small spherical cavity in a solid material.
“bubbles in window glass, or in a lens”
Anything resembling a hollow sphere.
Anything lacking firmness or solidity; a cheat or fraud; an empty project.
“Then a soldier […] / Seeking the bubble reputation / Even in the cannon's mouth”
A period of intense speculation in a market, causing prices to rise quickly to irrational levels as the metaphorical bubble expands, and then fall even more quickly as the bubble bursts.
“real estate bubble”
“dot-com bubble”
The emotional or physical atmosphere in which a subject is immersed; especially, a homogeneous atmosphere in which subjects are spared exposure to culture or ideas different from their own.
“Thomas, so often West Brom's most positive attacker down their left side and up against Salgado, twice almost burst the bubble of excitement around the ground but he had two efforts superbly saved by Robinson.”
“He’s wrapped up snugly in a cozy bubble of self-regard, talking for his own sake more than anyone else’s.”
An officer's station in a prison dormitory, affording views on all sides.
“Later that day, the unit was staffed with only one officer, who was required to stay in the bubble.”
Someone who has been ‘bubbled’ or fooled; a dupe.
“Gany's a cheat, and I'm a bubble.”
“For no woman, sure, will plead the passion of love for an excuse. This would be to own herself the mere tool and bubble of the man.”
A small, hollow, floating bead or globe, formerly used for testing the strength of spirits.
The globule of air in the chamber of a spirit level.
A laugh.
“Are you having a bubble?!”
A Greek.
Any of the small magnetized areas that make up bubble memory.
In a poker tournament, the point before which eliminated players receive no prize money and after which they do; the situation where all remaining players are guaranteed prize money (in this case, the players are said to have made the bubble); the situation where all remaining players will be guaranteed prize money after some small number of players are eliminated (in this case, the players are said to be on the bubble).
“Many players tend to play timidly (not play many hands) around the bubble, to keep their chips and last longer in the game.”
The cutoff point between qualifying, advancing or being invited to a tournament, or having one's competition end.
“bubble watch”
A quarantine environment containing multiple people or facilities isolated from the rest of society.
“"There was an empty room and this is my house," Mark Philip told the Herald. "Where am I supposed to go? Whose bubble am I supposed to infect?"”
The people who are in this quarantine.
Ellipsis of travel bubble.
A bulb or lamp; the part of a lighting assembly that actually produces the light.
“A bare lamp (bulb, globe, 'bubble') radiates light in all directions.”
A specialized glass pipe having a sphere-shaped apparatus at one end.

verb

To produce bubbles, to rise up in bubbles (such as in foods cooking or liquids boiling).
“The laminate is bubbling.”
To churn or foment, as if wishing to rise to the surface.
“Rage bubbled inside him.”
“The blood bubbled up to her brain, and made such a sound there, as of boiling waters, that she did not hear the words which Mr. Bradshaw first spoke […]”
To rise through a medium or system, similar to the way that bubbles rise in liquid.
“The target of this event is the most deeply nested common ancestor of all changes that occurred in the document, and it bubbles up the document tree […]”
To cover or spread with bubbles
To delude, dupe, or hoodwink; to cheat.
“No, no, friend, I shall never be bubbled out of my religion in hopes only of keeping my place under another government […]”
“He tells me with great passion that she has bubbled him out of his youth; that she drilled him on to five and fifty [years old], and that he verily believes she will drop him in his old age, if she can find her account in another.”
To cry, weep.
To pat a baby on the back so as to cause it to belch.
“Groggily her mind went back through the long hours to 10 P.M. She had fed Junior, bubbled him, diped him—according to plan.”
“I walked him, pushed him, pulled him, and “bubbled” him, drawing the line at changing him, and found that the ability to bring actual happiness to another being’s face, even such a small red one, simply by walking into the room, made me feel ten feet tall.”
To cause to feel as if bubbling or churning.
“It seemed to Adam that he felt the blood in his toes creeping up his legs and body until it reached his brain where, finding it could go no farther, it bubbled him into dumbness: it added to his confusion to know that he looked as if some such accident had befallen his circulation.”
“A few minutes more would give him his first glimpse of the village wherein, many months before, he had left his wife and little ones. Anticipation bubbled him into song, and he broke forth into—A la claire fontaine M’en allant promener.”
To express in a bubbly or lively manner.
“Mrs. Hinds beamed at Ipsie through pince-nez and bubbled her joy through thin lips, but Ipsie made no reply.”
“Delighted with this promenade, little Edith bubbled her joy without cessation.”
To form into a protruding round shape.
“She bubbled her lips at Junior and wrinkled her eyes.”
“She hasn’t bubbled her lips yet, has she?”
To cover with bubbles.
“Her mouth hung slightly open and water droplets bubbled her forehead, like oversized sweat.”
“Tears of thanksgiving bubbled her eyes and blurred her vision.”
To bubble in; to mark a response on a form by filling in a circular area (‘bubble’).
“Cross out answers as you eliminate them, and practice bubbling your answers on the sheet provided at the very end of the book.”
“They bubbled her answers on Scantron tests, changed her sanitary napkins, helped her get in and out of the bathroom with a minimum of fuss.”
To apply a filter bubble, as to search results.
To join together in a support bubble
To grass (report criminal activity to the authorities).