# blubber

> English word · Verb · IPA /ˈblʌbə/ · frequency rank #50,986

## Definitions
1. Often followed by out: to cry out (words) while sobbing.
2. To wet (one's eyes or face) by crying; to beweep; also, to cause (one's face) to disfigure or swell through crying.
3. Often followed by forth: to let (one's tears) flow freely.
4. To cry or weep freely and noisily; to sob.
5. To bubble or bubble up; also, to make a bubbling sound like water boiling.

## 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 sense 1.2 (“to cause (one’s face) to disfigure or swell through crying”) is influenced by blubber (adjective).

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/blubber