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soap bubble

soap bubble

3 1.8
A round pocket of air made from soap and water
  • noun
  • /soʊp ˈbʌbəl/
translation icon : burbuja de jabón
  • Alex has run out of soap bubbles.

Sadhguru As a child did you blow soap bubbles?

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Examples

  • A foamy mountain of soap bubbles oozed out of the drain, and as we watched, it began to creep ominously across the floor.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • Why is a soap bubble round?

  • A soap bubble is round because it is the most energy-efficient configuration.

  • Possibilities are limitless with soap bubbles and your imagination.

    Academic text (1995)
  • I asked students to talk about the size of a drop of water, about soap bubbles they have seen, and the different states of water, such as vapor and ice.

    Academic text (2012)
  • Sally waved as the water and soap bubbles swirled down the drain and said, "Ba-bye."

    Fiction book (1994)
  • At the birthday party, the children delighted in chasing colorful soap bubbles as they floated through the air.

  • The artist created a stunning display of iridescent soap bubbles that danced in the sunlight.

  • After washing the dishes, she watched the tiny soap bubbles rise and pop in the soapy water.

Antonyms

325 1.0

Firm and hard so it keeps its shape, not liquid

How Frothy

soapsuds
1.3
soap bubble
3 1.8
soap film
3.2

Surface Forms

soap bubble singular
soap bubbles plural

Morphology

soap + bubble

The meaning 'a hollow, air-filled sphere made from a thin film of soap and water' is directly compositional from 'soap' (a cleaning substance) + 'bubble' (a spherical pocket of gas in a liquid). This is a common, literal compound found across languages and follows straightforward noun+noun composition, so a B1 learner who knows both words will readily infer the meaning.

Etymology

Soap bubble comes from a simple picture: a thin layer of soap and water makes a round bubble that traps a little pocket of air and floats. So, it means 'a hollow, air-filled sphere made from a thin film of soap and water'.