blubber

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• Received-Pronunciation: /ˈblʌbə/
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• Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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• General-American, Northern-Ireland, Scotland: /ˈblʌbəɹ/
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• US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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• Ireland: /ˈblʊbəɹ/
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• Northern-England: /ˈblʊbə/
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• rhymes with -ʌbə(ɹ)
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• CMU ARPABET: B L AH1 B ER0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
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A variant of blabber and blobber, probably influenced by blub and blubber (noun).

The verb is derived from Late Middle English bloberen, bluberen (“to bubble, seethe”); and the noun from Late Middle English blober, bluber (“bubble; bubbling water; foaming waves; fish or whale oil; entrails, intestines; (medicine) pustule”), both probably onomatopoeic, representing the movement or sound of a bubbling liquid, or the movement of lips forming bubbles (compare bleb and blob, thought to be similarly imitative). As both the verb and noun are attested in the 14th century, it is difficult to tell which one developed first; the Oxford English Dictionary suggests that the noun may be derived from the verb. Verb etymology 1, verb sense 1.2 (“to cause (one’s face) to disfigure or swell through crying”) is influenced by blubber (adjective).

From blub + -er (suffix forming agent nouns).

100 source translations are retained for this English entry.

• Catalan: greix — fatty layer of adipose tissue found immediately beneath the epidermis of whales and other cetaceans
• Finnish: traani — fatty layer of adipose tissue found immediately beneath the epidermis of whales and other cetaceans
• French: lard — fatty layer of adipose tissue found immediately beneath the epidermis of whales and other cetaceans
• German: Blubber — fatty layer of adipose tissue found immediately beneath the epidermis of whales and other cetaceans
• German: Speck — fatty layer of adipose tissue found immediately beneath the epidermis of whales and other cetaceans
• German: Walspeck — fatty layer of adipose tissue found immediately beneath the epidermis of whales and other cetaceans
• Hungarian: háj — fatty layer of adipose tissue found immediately beneath the epidermis of whales and other cetaceans
• Hungarian: zsír — fatty layer of adipose tissue found immediately beneath the epidermis of whales and other cetaceans
• Hungarian: zsírréteg — fatty layer of adipose tissue found immediately beneath the epidermis of whales and other cetaceans
• Icelandic: rengi — fatty layer of adipose tissue found immediately beneath the epidermis of whales and other cetaceans
• Irish: blonag — fatty layer of adipose tissue found immediately beneath the epidermis of whales and other cetaceans
• Japanese: 皮下脂肪 (hikashibō) — fatty layer of adipose tissue found immediately beneath the epidermis of whales and other cetaceans
• Macedonian: маст (mast) — fatty layer of adipose tissue found immediately beneath the epidermis of whales and other cetaceans
• Māori: ngako — fatty layer of adipose tissue found immediately beneath the epidermis of whales and other cetaceans
• Māori: pakawēra — fatty layer of adipose tissue found immediately beneath the epidermis of whales and other cetaceans
• Māori: pera — fatty layer of adipose tissue found immediately beneath the epidermis of whales and other cetaceans
• Portuguese: panículo adiposo — fatty layer of adipose tissue found immediately beneath the epidermis of whales and other cetaceans
• Russian: подко́жный жир (podkóžnyj žir) — fatty layer of adipose tissue found immediately beneath the epidermis of whales and other cetaceans
• Russian: во́рвань (vórvanʹ) — fatty layer of adipose tissue found immediately beneath the epidermis of whales and other cetaceans
• Serbo-Croatian: по̀ткожно са̏ло — fatty layer of adipose tissue found immediately beneath the epidermis of whales and other cetaceans
• Serbo-Croatian: pòtkožno sȁlo — fatty layer of adipose tissue found immediately beneath the epidermis of whales and other cetaceans
• Catalan: greix — fatty layer of adipose tissue found in other animals
• Czech: velrybí tuk — fatty layer of adipose tissue found in other animals
• Middle Dutch: smeer — fatty layer of adipose tissue found in other animals
• Finnish: läski — fatty layer of adipose tissue found in other animals
• Finnish: tali — fatty layer of adipose tissue found in other animals
• Finnish: silava — fatty layer of adipose tissue found in other animals
• French: lard — fatty layer of adipose tissue found in other animals
• German: Blubber — fatty layer of adipose tissue found in other animals
• Greenlandic: orsoq — fatty layer of adipose tissue found in other animals
• Hungarian: bálnazsír — fatty layer of adipose tissue found in other animals
• Hungarian: fókazsír — fatty layer of adipose tissue found in other animals
• Hungarian: halzsír — fatty layer of adipose tissue found in other animals
• Hungarian: pingvinzsír — fatty layer of adipose tissue found in other animals
• Inuktitut: ᐅᖅᓱᖅ (oqsoq) — fatty layer of adipose tissue found in other animals
• Inupiaq: nutaġiñġaq — fatty layer of adipose tissue found in other animals
• Irish: blonag — fatty layer of adipose tissue found in other animals
• Italian: pannicolo — fatty layer of adipose tissue found in other animals
• Kyrgyz: ворвань (vorvan) — fatty layer of adipose tissue found in other animals
• Macedonian: маст (mast) — fatty layer of adipose tissue found in other animals
• Malay: lemak paus — fatty layer of adipose tissue found in other animals
• Māori: ngako — fatty layer of adipose tissue found in other animals
• Māori: pakawēra — fatty layer of adipose tissue found in other animals
• Māori: pera — fatty layer of adipose tissue found in other animals
• Norwegian Bokmål: hvalspekk — fatty layer of adipose tissue found in other animals
• Norwegian Bokmål: spekk — fatty layer of adipose tissue found in other animals
• Norwegian Nynorsk: spekk — fatty layer of adipose tissue found in other animals
• Portuguese: gordura — fatty layer of adipose tissue found in other animals
• Russian: подко́жный жир (podkóžnyj žir) — fatty layer of adipose tissue found in other animals
• Serbo-Croatian: ма̑снӣ омо̀та̄ч — fatty layer of adipose tissue found in other animals
• Serbo-Croatian: по̀ткожно са̏ло — fatty layer of adipose tissue found in other animals
• Serbo-Croatian: mȃsnī omòtāč — fatty layer of adipose tissue found in other animals
• Serbo-Croatian: pòtkožno sȁlo — fatty layer of adipose tissue found in other animals
• Swedish: späck — fatty layer of adipose tissue found in other animals
• Catalan: greix — person’s fat tissue, usually when regarded as excessive and unsightly
• Finnish: rasvakudos — person’s fat tissue, usually when regarded as excessive and unsightly
• French: lard — person’s fat tissue, usually when regarded as excessive and unsightly
• Hungarian: zsírszövet — person’s fat tissue, usually when regarded as excessive and unsightly
• Irish: blonag — person’s fat tissue, usually when regarded as excessive and unsightly
• Italian: adipe — person’s fat tissue, usually when regarded as excessive and unsightly
• Macedonian: сало (salo) — person’s fat tissue, usually when regarded as excessive and unsightly
• Māori: ngako — person’s fat tissue, usually when regarded as excessive and unsightly
• Māori: pakawēra — person’s fat tissue, usually when regarded as excessive and unsightly
• Māori: pera — person’s fat tissue, usually when regarded as excessive and unsightly
• Portuguese: banha — person’s fat tissue, usually when regarded as excessive and unsightly
• Portuguese: gordura — person’s fat tissue, usually when regarded as excessive and unsightly
• Russian: жир (žir) — person’s fat tissue, usually when regarded as excessive and unsightly
• Serbo-Croatian: ма̑сно тки̑во — person’s fat tissue, usually when regarded as excessive and unsightly
• Serbo-Croatian: mȃsno tkȋvo — person’s fat tissue, usually when regarded as excessive and unsightly
• Finnish: parku — act of crying or weeping freely and noisily
• Finnish: vonkuna — act of crying or weeping freely and noisily
• Macedonian: плач (plač) — act of crying or weeping freely and noisily
• Macedonian: липање (lipanje) — act of crying or weeping freely and noisily
• Finnish: parkua — to cry out (words) while sobbing
• Finnish: vollottaa — to cry out (words) while sobbing
• Finnish: tehdä itkuiseksi — to wet (one’s eyes or face) by crying; to cause (one’s face) to disfigure or swell through crying
• Hungarian: sírással eltorzítja az arcát — to wet (one’s eyes or face) by crying; to cause (one’s face) to disfigure or swell through crying
• Russian: опухать (opuxatʹ) — to wet (one’s eyes or face) by crying; to cause (one’s face) to disfigure or swell through crying
• Bulgarian: хълцам (hǎlcam) — to cry or weep freely and noisily — see also sob
• Bulgarian: плача с глас (plača s glas) — to cry or weep freely and noisily — see also sob
• Catalan: ploriquejar — to cry or weep freely and noisily — see also sob
• Czech: brečet — to cry or weep freely and noisily — see also sob
• Czech: bulit — to cry or weep freely and noisily — see also sob
• Finnish: nyyhkiä — to cry or weep freely and noisily — see also sob
• Finnish: parkua — to cry or weep freely and noisily — see also sob
• Finnish: vollottaa — to cry or weep freely and noisily — see also sob
• French: chialer — to cry or weep freely and noisily — see also sob
• French: pleurer comme un veau — to cry or weep freely and noisily — see also sob
• Hungarian: bőg — to cry or weep freely and noisily — see also sob
• Hungarian: nyafog — to cry or weep freely and noisily — see also sob
• Hungarian: zokog — to cry or weep freely and noisily — see also sob
• Japanese: 泣き喚く (naki-wameku) — to cry or weep freely and noisily — see also sob
• Kyrgyz: өксө (öksö) — to cry or weep freely and noisily — see also sob
• Kyrgyz: өкүр (ökür) — to cry or weep freely and noisily — see also sob
• Māori: wairutu — to cry or weep freely and noisily — see also sob
• Māori: wairurutu — to cry or weep freely and noisily — see also sob
• Portuguese: choramingar — to cry or weep freely and noisily — see also sob
• Russian: рыдать (rydatʹ) — to cry or weep freely and noisily — see also sob
• Ukrainian: ревіти (revity) — to cry or weep freely and noisily — see also sob
• Ukrainian: ридати (rydaty) — to cry or weep freely and noisily — see also sob