plural chub or chubs
1
: any of numerous freshwater cyprinid fishes (as of the genera Gila and Nocomis)
2
: any of several marine or freshwater fishes (such as the tautog) that are not cyprinids

Examples of chub in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Ground beef chubs and milk fish thaw on the drain board and in the basin of the food preparation sink. — Sacbee.com, 11 Sep. 2026 Most of the government attention to this problem in recent years has been on protecting Grand Canyon’s native humpback chubs from warm-water predators that slipped through the dam’s turbines from Lake Powell. — Brandon Loomis, AZCentral.com, 8 Sep. 2026 Other species up for consideration include the Cascade red fox, diamondback terrapin, Goose Lake lamprey, Goose Lake sucker, Goose Lake tui chub and loopy five firefly. — Lucia Cheng, Des Moines Register, 17 July 2026 Good choices include live sunfish, suckers, bullheads, carp, goldfish, and chubs. — Keith Sutton, Outdoor Life, 18 June 2026 See All Example Sentences for chub

Word History

Etymology

Middle English chubbe

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of chub was in the 15th century

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Cite this Entry

“Chub.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/chub. Accessed 28 Sep. 2026.

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