What does "dub" mean?
A blow, thrust, or poke.
Dub
/dʌb/ name, noun, verb, slang
name, noun, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A blow, thrust, or poke.
- Grammar: dub is listed as name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: alias, baptize, baptizes, bename.
- Useful contrasts: captions, original, original audio.
- Usage evidence: Ah, if you can dub it, can I ask for a copy as well?
How to use "dub"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "dub" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "dub" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "dub" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "dub" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "dub" is acting as name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "alias" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "dub", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A blow, thrust, or poke. rare
"And kettle-drums, whose sullen dub Sounds like the hooping of a tub"
- 2 An unskillful, awkward person. historical, slang
"As I came over the hill, I saw Ernest Plinlimmon and his partner, in whom I recognized a prominent local dub, emerging from the rough on the right. Apparently, the latter had sliced from the tee, and Ernest had been helping him find his ball."
- 3 A mostly instrumental remix with all or part of the vocals removed. countable
- 4 A pool or puddle. UK, dialectal
"“Has he nae friends?” said she, in a tearful voice. “That has he so!” cried Alan, “if we could but win to them!—friends and rich friends, beds to lie in, food to eat, doctors to see to him—and here he must tramp in the dubs and sleep in the heather like a beggarman.”"
- 5 A twenty-dollar sack of marijuana. slang
Show 14 more definitions
- 6 A lock. UK, obsolete
- 7 Clipping of double-u. abbreviation, alt-of, clipping
"World Wide Web or WWW Pronouncing this "dub dub dub" (with no rub-a) will definitely establish you as an insider."
- 8 A small copper coin once used in India. India, historical
- 9 Initialism of dysfunctional uterine bleeding. abbreviation, alt-of, initialism, uncountable
- 10 A Dubliner. Ireland, colloquial
"There is a distinction between Dubliners on the one hand and "rednecks" on the other. […] The Dubs historically went to Liverpool and Birmingham, so they don't have the connections."
- 11 the new sounds added by dubbing wordnet
- 12 A poorly executed shot.
- 13 A style of reggae music involving mixing of different audio tracks. uncountable
"It’s also burnished by intriguing sense of vaguely dub-influenced space. At one point, it breaks down to little more than a stabbing, echoing organ with a vintage reggae flavour."
- 14 A wheel rim measuring 20 inches or more. slang
"When I pull up out front, you see the Benz on dubs."
- 15 A key, especially a master key; a lock pick. UK, obsolete
"[…]going upon the dobbin, is a woman dressed like a servant maid, no hat nor cloak on, a bunch of young dubs by her side, which are a bunch of small keys[…]"
- 16 Clipping of double-u.; A win. Internet
"I haven't had a dub in a few games."
- 17 A trend in music starting in 2009, in which bass distortion is synced off timing to electronic dance music. uncountable
"But I think my bass playing is definitely dub-influenced."
- 18 A piece of graffiti in metallic colour with a thick black outline. countable, slang
"[…] we climbed up the scaffolding and did these gold little dubs and you couldn't see them."
- 19 The replacement of a voice part in a movie or cartoon, particularly with a translation; an instance of dubbing. countable
Verb
- 1 To confer knighthood; the conclusion of the ceremony was marked by a tap on the shoulder with a sword, the accolade. transitive
"You promiſt Knighthood to our forward ſonne, / Vnſheath your ſword, and dub him preſently."
- 2 To make a noise by brisk drumbeats.
"Now the drum dubb's."
- 3 To add sound to film or change audio on film.
- 4 To open or close. UK, obsolete
""Crash the cull—down with him—down with him before he dubs the jigger. Tip him the degan, Fib, fake him through and through; if he pikes we shall all be scragged.""
- 5 provide (movies) with a soundtrack of a foreign language wordnet
Show 15 more definitions
- 6 To name, to entitle, to call. informal, transitive
"They tripped along the murky aisles with the rest of the company, visiting the familiar wonders of the cave—wonders dubbed with rather over-descriptive names, such as “The Drawing-Room,” “The Cathedral,” Aladdin’s Palace,” and so on."
- 7 To do something badly.
- 8 To make a copy from an original or master audio tape.
- 9 give a nickname to wordnet
- 10 To deem. transitive
"A man of wealth is dubbed a man of worth."
- 11 To execute a shot poorly.
- 12 To replace the original soundtrack of a film with a synchronized translation
- 13 raise (someone) to knighthood wordnet
- 14 To clothe or invest; to ornament; to adorn.
"His diadem was dropped down / Dubbed with stones."
- 15 To mix audio tracks to produce a new sound; to remix.
- 16 To strike, rub, or dress smooth; to dab.; To dress with an adze.
"to dub a stick of timber smooth"
- 17 To strike, rub, or dress smooth; to dab.; To strike cloth with teasels to raise a nap.
"For dressing or dubbing cloths, either wet or dry, otherwise than by green cards and pickards"
- 18 To strike, rub, or dress smooth; to dab.; To rub or dress with grease, as leather in the process of currying it.
"1852-1866, Charles Tomlinson, Cyclopaedia of Useful Arts and Manufactures When the skin is thoroughly cleansed, and while yet in its wet and distended state, the process of stuffing, or dubbing (probably a corruption of daubing), is performed. Both sides of the skin, but chiefly the flesh side, are smeared or daubed with a mixture of cod-oil and tallow"
- 19 To strike, rub, or dress smooth; to dab.; To dress a fishing fly.
"if you can dub a Fly of the exact colour of the Natural Fly, Fish at that instant take, it's sufficient"
- 20 To prepare (a gamecock) for fighting, by trimming the hackles and cutting off the comb and wattles.
Slang
- 1 A win, especially in games or competition. slang, gaming, 2010s-2020s
"We caught the dub in overtime."
Proper Noun
- 1 Abbreviation of University of Dublin, used especially following post-nominal letters indicating status as a graduate. abbreviation, alt-of
Example
"Ah, if you can dub it, can I ask for a copy as well?"
Common questions
What is a synonym for "dub"?
Common synonyms include: alias, baptize, baptizes, bename, blow, blunder.
How do you use "dub" in a sentence?
Ah, if you can dub it, can I ask for a copy as well?
How do you pronounce "dub"?
Pronounced /dʌb/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English dubben, from Old English dubbian (“to knight by striking with a sword, dub”) from Old French adober (“to equip with arms; adorn”) (also 11th century, Modern French adouber), both from Proto-West Germanic *dubbōn, from Proto-Germanic *dub- (“to hit, strike”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewbʰ- (“plug, peg, wedge”). Cognate with Icelandic dubba (in dubba til riddara). Compare also drub for an English reflex of the Germanic word.
Etymology 2
1505-1515
Etymology 3
1885-90. Imitative; see also flub, flubdub.
Etymology 4
From a shortening of the word double.
Etymology 5
From Celtic; compare Irish dobhar (“water”), Welsh dŵr (“water”).
Etymology 6
From shortening of double dime (“twenty”).
Etymology 7
From dup (“to open”), from do + up, from Middle English don up (“to open”).
Etymology 8
Clipping of Dubliner.