boob tube
4
8.8
- noun
- /buːb tuːb/
- Archaic
:
televisión
- After a long day at work, I love to relax and watch my favorite shows on the boob tube.
- watch the boob tube
- in front of the boob tube
- boob tube every night
Examples
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Time is much too valuable to waste on the "boob tube."
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The only thing you're more obsessed with is that stupid boob tube.
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'Another day in front of the boob tube.'
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Nice to see a friendly face on the boob tube.
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All these idiots are gonna be home watching the boob tube for me tonight.
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Her parents were glued to the boob tube and would never hear her.
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Sittin' in living rooms, stuck facing the boob tube, bored to death,
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I saw an advertisement on the boob tube Sunday, during the Houston Texans game.
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Even as our smartphones and tablets vie for our attention, TV dominates: Americans still spend an average of 4 hours, 38 minutes a day watching the boob tube.
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Most of them are elitist pro wrestling fans who bitch and moan about everything WWE does wrong, despite staying glued to the boob tube every week for Monday Night RAW.
Blog text (12)
Synonyms
626
1.0
An electronic device with a screen that receives broadcasts and shows moving pictures and sound
332
1.0
A screen device you use at home to watch shows and films
52
1.4
A machine with a screen that shows moving pictures and sound
43
1.0
A machine with a screen that shows moving pictures and sound
28
7.9
A machine like a TV that shows programs
7
8.1
A television set for watching shows
4
7.2
A television people jokingly call a waste of time
1
8.8
A machine at home that shows programs and news
1
2.4
A machine that receives TV signals and shows them on a screen
A box in the home used to watch TV
How Modern
Surface Forms
Morphology
boob + tube
The parts 'boob' (slang with senses like 'breast' or 'fool') and 'tube' (a cylindrical object or technical vacuum tube) do not transparently combine to mean 'television' for a B1 learner. Any connection relies on historical/technical knowledge of cathode-ray "tubes" in TVs and on slang usage, making the phrase informal and idiomatic rather than compositional.
Etymology
Boob tube may come from early televisions that used a long glass tube and from the word boob, a slang word for a 'fool'. People liked the funny image of a 'fool' staring at the TV, so the name caught on and now boob tube means a 'television'.