blubber
part of speech
noun (blubber, uncountable); verb (blubber, blubbers, blubbered, blubbering — informal)
meaning for a pupil
1) Blubber is the thick layer of fat under the skin of whales, seals and penguins that keeps them warm in cold water. tree →
2) (informal) To blubber is to cry noisily, often with tears and sobs. tree →
3) (informal, rude) Blubber is sometimes used unkindly about fat on a person. tree →
sense in the lessons
In science lessons blubber is an adaptation for the cold: it insulates animals like the blue whale and walrus and stores energy. A classic experiment: put your hand in a glove of lard («blubber glove») and dip it in ice water. In history, whale blubber was boiled to make oil for lamps. Phrases: a layer of blubber, blubber glove.
examples
- Seals have thick blubber to keep warm in icy seas. tree →
- A whale's blubber can be 30 centimetres thick. tree →
- Our blubber glove experiment showed that fat keeps out the cold. tree →
- Long ago, whalers boiled blubber to make lamp oil. tree →
- Polar bears eat seal blubber for energy. tree →
- (informal) Stop blubbering — it's only a scratch! tree →
- The little boy blubbered when he lost his teddy. tree →
- He had no time to change his mind, for Kotick’s head was out and his teeth sunk in the blubber of the young seal’s neck. tree →
note
Uncountable as a noun: «a lot of blubber». Calling a person «blubber» is cruel name-calling — do not do it. Blubber is fat, not muscle.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «blubber» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.