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bubble

bubble

155 7.1
A time when prices rise quickly and then fall suddenly
  • noun
  • /ˈbʌbəl/
  • Literature
: burbuja
  • For today's leaders, that issue is how to deflate the world's bubble economy before it bursts.
  • asset bubble
  • housing bubble
  • real estate bubble

How do you know the bubble is about to burst?

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Examples

  • Last time we had a housing bubble was in the late '80s.

  • But now these Chinese-induced commodity bubbles, initiated by a country with enormous industrial overcapacity, may not be sustainable.

    Academic text (2010)
  • I have never seen a financial bubble like this.

  • We bought it during the bubble.

  • How do you know the bubble is about to burst?

  • The difference is that we don't have a bubble in the single family market.

  • Cryptocurrency's a bubble, everybody knows that.

  • The challenge for our generation is to deflate the economic bubble before it bursts.

    Academic text (2003)
  • The downsizings and mass firings after the dot-com bubble deflated left many engineers feeling vulnerable.

    Academic text (2004)
  • The housing market experienced a significant bubble that eventually led to many foreclosures.

Synonyms

house of cards
vsbubble
  • Informal
19 5.1

A plan or organization that seems strong but is actually weak and likely to fail

focuses on rapid unsustainable asset value rise rather than general fragility
bubble-like
vsbubble
1 5.8

Growing quickly in a way that will end suddenly

is the specific economic term used for that rapid speculative growth

Antonyms

283 3.1

Being steady and not likely to change

Idioms

20 6.3

Tell someone that something they hoped for is not true

1 9.9

Fail to follow what is happening and become confused

Compounds

25 1.0

A sweet chewing gum that you can blow into bubbles

23 1.9

A bath with foamy scented water to relax in

12 1.7

A soft plastic sheet with many small air bubbles that stops fragile things from breaking when you pack them

10 1.9

A small pocket of air trapped inside a liquid or solid

5 1.8

A round pocket of air made from soap and water

4 2.0

A liquid or powder that you add to bathwater to make foam and a nice smell

A cloud-shaped picture above a character's head showing what they think

bubble brain
  • Informal
1 9.5

A short time when someone cannot think clearly

A British dish made by frying leftover cabbage and potatoes, often served with eggs or bacon

A rounded shape in comics that shows what a character says or thinks

1 3.0

A clear plastic cover with small bubbles that holds a product on a piece of cardboard

bubble chamber
  • Archaic
1 7.8

A tank of very hot liquid where tiny bubbles show the paths of invisible particles

A small round pocket of gas that rises in champagne

1 3.6

Having a round, hollow shape like a small ball

1 9.8

A solo dance using large balloons to hide and show the dancer's body

1 4.2

A printer that uses heat to make tiny ink bubbles and prints them on paper

bubble shell
  • Specialized
1 8.9

A small sea snail with a thin round shell like a bubble

A round ball that you make by blowing air into chewing gum in your mouth

Westminster bubble
  • Literature
1 8.8

A group of politicians and journalists cut off from ordinary people and their problems

hubble-bubble
  • Archaic
1 9.9

A pipe with a long tube that passes tobacco smoke through water

bubble-jet printer
  • Specialized
3.8

A machine that prints by spraying tiny drops of ink onto paper

bubble gum dermatitis
  • Specialized
7.4

A skin rash around the lips after chewing bubble gum with artificial colors or flavors

A device that stores information as tiny magnetic areas on a thin layer, used in older computers

How Inflated

bubble
  • Literature
155 7.1
mania
34 6.6
boom
148 2.8

Surface Forms

bubble singular
bubbles plural

Etymology

Bubble uses the image of a soap bubble that grows and then suddenly pops, so an economic bubble is when prices rise too fast and then quickly fall or 'burst'.