1
a
: a young carnivorous mammal (such as a bear, fox, or lion)
b
: a young shark
2
: a young person
3
: apprentice
especially : an inexperienced newspaper reporter

Examples of cub in a Sentence

the kind of big story that can propel a cub reporter into the stratosphere of the newspaper world assigned to teach a bunch of young cubs how to play baseball
Recent Examples on the Web The births and deaths of their cubs were front-page news. ABC News, 12 Nov. 2023 Giant panda Mei Xiang and one of her cubs Bei Bei play in their enclosure Aug. 24, 2016 at the National Zoo in Washington, DC. Caitlin O'Kane, CBS News, 8 Nov. 2023 Mei Xiang and Tian Tian are the parents of several cubs — all of whom were conceived through artificial insemination. Christine Rousselle, Fox News, 26 Oct. 2023 The small business will personalize the names and amount of little cubs up to a whopping 10 kids. Hannah Rice, Rolling Stone, 25 Oct. 2023 Grazer is known for preemptively confronting and attacking much larger bears—even the large and dominant adult males—to keep her cubs safe. Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 11 Oct. 2023 The male cub lived with its face stuck in the container for nearly two months after the initial sighting. Brenton Blanchet, Peoplemag, 6 Oct. 2023 Tai Shan’s mate had a male cub on August 19, 2020—just two days before the siblings’ mother, Mei Xiang, became the oldest panda in the U.S. to give birth to a healthy cub. Meilan Solly, Smithsonian Magazine, 22 Sep. 2023 In 2017, the female cub Bao Bao followed; two years later, the male cub Bei Bei also made the trip to China. Michael E. Ruane, Washington Post, 25 Oct. 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'cub.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

probably akin to Middle English cobbe leader of a group, head — more at cob

First Known Use

1530, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Time Traveler
The first known use of cub was in 1530

Dictionary Entries Near cub

Cite this Entry

“Cub.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cub. Accessed 30 Nov. 2023.

Kids Definition

cub

noun
1
a
: a young flesh-eating mammal (as a bear, fox, or lion)
b
: a young shark
2
: a young person
3
: a person just learning a job : apprentice
a cub reporter
a cub pilot
4

More from Merriam-Webster on cub

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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