Tube

See also: tube and tubé

English

Proper noun

the Tube

1. (informal) The London Underground.
   • 2012, Andrew Martin, Underground Overground: A passenger's history of the Tube, Profile Books, →ISBN, page unnumbered: A note on the title:

     But 'Tube' is used as shorthand for the whole network, not least by London Underground itself, [...] It tends to be older people who hold on to the distinction. A friend of mine was visiting his mother who lives about 500 yards from Parsons Green station on the District, which is a cut-and-cover line [not a tube line]. At the end of the evening she said, "How are you getting back?" He said, "Oh, on the Tube", and she looked at him absolutely blankly. "What Tube?" she said, "There is no Tube here."

   • 2014 March 26, Richard Goodwin, “Candy Crush is the crystal meth of the commute”, in Evening Standard, page 17:

     Still, it’s not just the decline of civilisation that worries me, nor the (related) effect on Tube manners (Candy Crushers are rarely very chivalrous).

Derived terms

• tube train

Translations

informal: the London underground

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 倫敦地鐵 / 伦敦地铁 (Lúndūn dìtiě)

• Dutch: metro (nl) m
• Finnish: metro (fi), Lontoon metro
• French: le métro londonien m
• German: Londoner U-Bahn f, Londoner Metro f
• Hungarian: metró (hu)
• Italian: la metropolitana di Londra f
• Japanese: チューブ (ja) (chūbu), ロンドン地下鉄 (Rondon chikatetsu)
• Polish: londyńskie metro
• Russian: ло́ндонское метро́ n (lóndonskoje metró)
• Spanish: metro (es) m
• Swahili: mrija (sw)

Anagrams

• bute, Bute, Tebu

German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtuːbə/

• Audio:

  (file)

Etymology 1

Later 19th century, borrowed from English tube. The pronunciation follows the underlying Latin tubus, tuba; compare etymology 2 below.

Noun

Tube f (genitive Tube, plural Tuben, diminutive Tübchen n)

1. tube (container for semiliquids, usually with a screw top)

Declension

Declension of Tube [feminine]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	eine	die	Tube	die	Tuben
genitive	einer	der	Tube	der	Tuben
dative	einer	der	Tube	den	Tuben
accusative	eine	die	Tube	die	Tuben

Derived terms

• Farbtube
• Senftube
• Zahnpastatube

Etymology 2

See the main entry.

Noun

Tube f (genitive Tube, plural Tuben)

1. (medicine) Alternative form of Tuba (“a tubular organ, such as the Fallopian tube”)

Declension

Declension of Tube [feminine]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	eine	die	Tube	die	Tuben
genitive	einer	der	Tube	der	Tuben
dative	einer	der	Tube	den	Tuben
accusative	eine	die	Tube	die	Tuben

Further reading

• “Tube” in Duden online
• “Tube” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache