bubble
A small round ball of air or gas in water, soap, or another liquid.
A small, usually round pocket of air or other gas in a liquid or solid substance.
A time when prices, especially in housing or stocks, go too high and may suddenly drop.
A period during which the prices of assets such as houses, stocks, or technology companies rise far above their real value and are likely to fall suddenly.
A small world or group where people are apart from others and do not see or feel what is happening outside.
A situation or environment where a person or group is separated from other people or ideas, often so that they are unaware of wider realities.
A round shape in a picture or on your phone that holds words or a small picture.
A rounded shape in a drawing or on a screen that contains words or an icon, used especially for speech or messages.
A quick, small feeling or sound that seems to come up from inside.
A small, brief feeling or sound that seems to rise suddenly inside someone or something.
When a liquid makes many small bubbles, usually because it is hot or moving.
To form many small bubbles, especially when a liquid is heated, boiling, or moving over something.
When feelings, ideas, or activity slowly grow stronger and start to show.
To rise or develop with growing force or excitement, especially about emotions, ideas, or activity that start to show on the surface.
- Base: bubble
- Plural: bubble, bubbles
- Base: bubble
- 3rd Person Singular: bubbles
- Present Participle: bubbling
- Past: bubbled
bubble away
1liquid cooking and bubbling steadily
When a liquid keeps making small bubbles for a while, usually when it cooks on a low heat.
- The stew bubbled away on the stove all afternoon.
- Leave the sauce to bubble away gently for ten minutes.
bubble over
1show strong emotion openly
To show so much emotion, usually happiness or excitement, that you cannot keep it inside.
- The children were bubbling over with excitement on Christmas morning.
- She bubbled over with joy when she heard the good news.
bubble under
1be close to success or prominence
To be close to success or becoming very popular, but not quite there yet.
- The band has been bubbling under the charts for months.
- There is a lot of anger bubbling under in the community.
bubble up
1feelings or ideas slowly surface
When feelings or ideas slowly come from inside and become stronger or easy to see.
- Old arguments began to bubble up again during the meeting.
- Anger bubbled up inside her as she read the message.
bubble wrap
1plastic with air pockets for packing
Plastic with many small air bubbles inside, used to protect things when you pack or send them.
- She covered the glasses in bubble wrap before putting them in the box.
- Kids love to pop the little bubbles in bubble wrap.
housing bubble
1period of overvalued house prices
A time when house prices are too high compared to their real value and can suddenly drop.
- The housing bubble left many people with huge mortgages and homes worth much less than they paid.
- Some analysts worry that another housing bubble is forming in big cities.
in your own little bubble
1mentally separate from surroundings
To think only about yourself or your small world and not notice what happens around you.
- Teenagers can be in their own little bubble with their phones.
- You were in your own little bubble and didn’t hear a word I said.
live in a bubble
1be cut off from reality
To live in a way where you do not see or understand what normal life or other people’s problems are like.
- People who work in politics often live in a bubble.
- He lives in a bubble and doesn’t realize how hard things are for most families.
social bubble
1small fixed group for close contact
A small set group of people who can meet each other closely, while avoiding close contact with other people.
- During the pandemic, many families formed a social bubble with one other household.
- They agreed to stay within their social bubble for the whole winter.
speech bubble
1shape showing speech in comics
A round shape in a comic or picture that shows the words a person is saying.
- The speech bubble shows exactly what the hero is shouting.
- She drew a speech bubble above the character’s head and wrote a joke inside.
burst someone's bubble
1end someone's pleasant illusion
To make someone lose a happy idea or feeling by telling them something that shows it is not true.
- I do not want to burst your bubble, but that plan will not work.
- The bad review burst his bubble about the new restaurant.
burst someone's bubble
2destroy someone's happy illusion
To say or do something that makes someone lose a dream or nice idea that was not really true.
- I hate to burst your bubble, but that plan is never going to work.
- The news report burst his bubble about how safe the area really was.
the bubble burst
1unrealistic good period ends
Used when a time of fast growth, high prices, or big hopes suddenly stops and ends in a bad way.
- House prices kept rising for years, then the bubble burst in 2008.
- Prices kept rising until the bubble burst in 2008.
- For the company, the bubble finally burst when sales dropped by half.
- The tech boom seemed endless, but then the bubble burst.