tube
/tuːb/noun, verb
tube is spelled T-U-B-E: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 23 times per million words in written English, the 3,875th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, tube means “Anything that is hollow and cylindrical in shape” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of tube is tubes.
How many letters and syllables are in tube?
| Letters | 4: T-U-B-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 23 times per million words; the 3,875th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is tube?
Tube appears 23 times per million words in written English, the 3,875th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce tube?
- /tuːb/
- /tʃuːb/
- /tjuːb/
Tube has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-uk-tube.ogg, En-uk-tube2.ogg, En-au-tube.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of tube
- tubes plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- tubing participle, present
- tubed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does tube mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Anything that is hollow and cylindrical in shape.
- 2
An approximately cylindrical container, usually with a crimped end and a screw top, used to contain and dispense semiliquid substances.
A tube of toothpaste.
- 3
UKcolloquialThe London Underground railway system, originally referred to the lower level lines that ran in tubular tunnels as opposed to the higher ones which ran in rectangular section tunnels. (Often the tube.)
I took the tube to Waterloo and walked the rest of the way.
- 4
UKcolloquialobsoleteOne of the tubular tunnels of the London Underground.
- 5
AustraliaslangA tin can containing beer.
Beer is also available from bottleshops (or bottle-o's) in cases (or 'slabs') of 24-36 cans (‘tinnies' or ‘tubes') or bottles (‘stubbies') of 375ml each.
- 6
A wave which pitches forward when breaking, creating a hollow space inside.
- 7
CanadaUScolloquialA television. Compare cathode ray tube and picture tube.
- 8
ScotlandslangAn idiot.
verb
- 1
To supply with, or enclose in, a tube.
She tubes lipstick in the cosmetics factory.
- 2
To ride an inner tube.
They tubed down the Colorado River.
- 3
colloquialTo intubate.
The patient was tubed.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Tube in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | tuyau , tube , canette (de bière) |
| German | Rohr, Röhre , Tube |
| Portuguese | tubo , bisnaga , lata, latinha |
| Spanish | tubo, canuto , chisguete |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does tube come from?
From Middle French tube, from Latin tubus (“tube, pipe”), related to tuba (“long trumpet; war-trumpet”), of obscure ultimate origin, but possibly connected to tībia (“shinbone, reed-pipe”); see there. Doublet of tubus.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).