Log in or Sign up
  1. tuba love

Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. n. A large, valved, brass wind instrument with a bass pitch.
  2. n. A reed stop in an organ, having eight-foot pitch.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. n. An ancient Roman trumpet with a straight tube of metal, like the Greek salpinx.
  2. n. In the Philippine Islands, Guam, and the west coast of Mexico, the sap obtained from the immature inflorescence of the coconut, which is allowed to ferment and is used as a beverage, and from which a distilled liquor called vino, or aguardiente, is obtained.
  3. n. In the peninsula of Malacca and the Malay Archipelago, a name applied to a number of fish-intoxicants, especially to Deguelia elliptica, and in the Philippine Islands to Croton Tiglium, Jatropha Curcas, and Cocculus Cocculus, used for the same purpose.
  4. n. A musical instrument of the trumpet family, of very large size and low pitch. It is essentially similar to the bombardon, though not always made in the same shape. Its compass is nearly four octaves, including, by means of three or five valves, all the chromatic tones. The fundamental tone is usually the third F or Eþ below middle C. Lower varieties are often called bass or contra-bass tubas. The tuba is much used in military bands, and is more or less common in the orchestra, where it is used in conjunction with the trombones.
  5. n. In organ-building, a reed-stop of large scale, so connected with a separate bellows with extra weights that the tones are of exceptional power and majesty. Usually called tuba mirabilis.
  6. n. In anatomy and zoül, a tube or tubular part or organ; specifically, the Eustachian tube, or salpinx. See hydra tuba (under hydra), and cut under scyphistoma.

Wiktionary

  1. n. A large brass musical instrument, usually in the bass range, played through a vibration of the lips upon the mouthpiece and fingering of the keys.

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. n. An ancient trumpet.
  2. n. A sax-tuba. See sax-tuba.

WordNet 3.0

  1. n. the lowest brass wind instrument

Etymologies

  1. From Latin tuba ("tube, trumpet"). (Wiktionary)
  2. Italian, from Latin, trumpet; akin to tubus, tube. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)

Examples

  • “In the interest of alcoholic comprehensiveness, "tuba" is also the Philippine name for fermented palm tree sap, which can either be made into a wine-like beverage or soured into vinegar.”

    Archive 2008-09-01

  • “A cursed tuba from the Titanic is this episode’s Maguffin, plus Roxy and her succubi return.”

    The Middleman: The Complete Series » DVDs Worth Watching

  • “A tuba is a weak, puny thing fit only for mewling, puking babes and Guy Lombardo -- the better to harass balding, middle-aged dancers.”

    Archive 2008-12-01

  • “Or an entire band jammed in a phone booth to call the tuba player who had to stay at home with his lip in a cast.”

    The Ties That Bind...And Gag!

  • “It is called tuba, and is liked by all the soldiers.”

    A Soldier in the Philippines

  • “Like the coco and following the same process the nipa yields a liquid also called tuba and possessing properties identical with those of the former plant.”

    The Medicinal Plants of the Philippines

  • “The poison which stupefies or even kills the fish, without making it unfit for food, is secured from the root of a plant called tuba and described to me as being a vine.”

    Through Central Borneo; an Account of Two Years' Travel in the Land of Head-Hunters Between the Years 1913 and 1917

  • “They steep the root of a certain climbing plant, called tuba, of strong narcotic qualities, in the water where the fish are observed, which produces such an effect that they become intoxicated and to appearance dead, float on the surface of the water, and are taken with the hand.”

    The History of Sumatra Containing An Account Of The Government, Laws, Customs And Manners Of The Native Inhabitants

  • “Evenings are spent with the island chief who insists that the rare visitors who drop by spend evenings with him drinking a powerful brew called tuba, made from the sap of a coconut tree, while locals sing to the music of their guitars.”

    Home | Mail Online

  • “Food - mostly crabs, turtles, fish and wild chickens - is cooked on an open fire and the island chief insists that the rare visitors who drop by spend evenings with him drinking a powerful brew called tuba, made from the sap of a coconut tree, while locals sing softly by oil lamplight to the music of their guitars.”

    Home | Mail Online

Show 10 more examples...

Log in or sign up to add your own related words.

same context (22)

Words that are found in similar contexts

  1. trombone
  2. sax
  3. violoncello
  4. clef
  1. hautboy
  2. flageolet
  3. cornet
  4. woodwind
  1. zither
  2. harmonica
  3. euphonium
  4. clarionet
  1. piccolo
  2. viola
  3. viol
  4. banjo
  1. fiddle
  2. kettledrum
  3. bugle
  4. concertina
  1. violin
  2. fife

rhymes (10)

Words with the same terminal sound

  1. Aruba
  2. Cuba
  1. Juba
  2. Luba
  1. Suba
  2. Yoruba
  1. chuba
  2. juba
  1. scuba
  2. suba

reverse dictionary (16)

Words that contain this word in their definition

  1. helicon
  2. bombardon
  3. euphonium
  1. salpinx
  2. tuba
  3. vino
  1. mananguete
  2. bathyphon
  3. oompah
  1. bass horn
  2. sousaphone
  3. ophicleide
  1. horn
  2. sax-tuba
  3. strobila
  1. strobilation

tags (3)

Free-form, user-generated categorization

  1. instrument
  1. cvcv
  1. ua

Log in or sign up to add your own tag.

tagging (1)

Words tagged ‘tuba’

  1. helicon

Wordmap

(beta)

Word visualization

Lists

These user-created lists contain the word ‘tuba’.

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • ruzuzu "3. n. In the peninsula of Malacca and the Malay Archipelago, a name applied to a number of fish-intoxicants, especially to Deguelia elliptica, and in the Philippine Islands to Croton Tiglium, Jatropha Curcas, and Cocculus Cocculus, used for the same purpose."
    --CD&C
    Dec 9, 2011

  • ruzuzu Here's another spin (if you will) on tuba vs. not tuba - I think tornadoes have been associated with clouds called tuba (maybe Cumulonimbus tuba), but now those clouds are called funnel clouds.

    Edit: Maybe tuba clouds can indicate that a funnel cloud might be forming without being funnel clouds themselves... they might not be the same thing at all - do any of my fellow wordniks know? Jul 12, 2010

  • hernesheir Well then - tuba, or not tuba: that is the question. I aver this Shakespearean question is answered with a resounding "YES" judging from the various octubafest celebrations around the US. Am I correct that octubafest celebrations began at Indiana University's music school? Jul 12, 2010

  • hernesheir The previous comment for this word gave me ophicleidic for my list of Adjcectival Arcana. Jul 12, 2010

  • oroboros Abut in reverse. Jul 22, 2007

Tweets

Looking for tweets for tuba.

‘tuba’ has been looked up 2908 times, added to 15 lists, commented on 5 times, and has a Scrabble score of 6.