Bubble

Part of speech: noun, verb

Pronunciation: /ˈbʌb.l̩/

Definitions

1. A rounded pocket of gas encased in a liquid or solid medium, or the process of emerging in such a shape through a liquid, which can also refer to an unsustainable rise in economic asset values
2. A fragile sphere of liquid that contains air or gas inside ; a short-lived phase characterized by inflated financial asset prices ; the action of gas rapidly forming and rising through a liquid
3. An air-filled thin coating of liquid forming a spherical shape ; a temporary surge in market valuation often followed by a collapse ; the process where gas is released quickly within a fluid and rises to the surface

Etymology: The most surprising thing about "bubble" is that its best-known modern sense, a financial crash, arrived in 1720 with the South Sea Company. When that company's shares collapsed, people borrowed the image of a soap bubble swelling and then bursting to describe speculation that had inflated beyond anything real, and the economic meaning stuck. The physical sense, a ball of air in liquid, came first and remains the core of the word. The word itself is partly imitative, meaning it seems to copy the sound of something bubbling. It was also shaped by "burble", which suggests the murmur of moving water. Its closest relatives are Middle Dutch "bobbe", modern Dutch "bubbel", Low German "bubbel", Danish "boble" and Swedish "bubbla", all meaning the same thing, which points to a shared Germanic-speaking origin across northern Europe.

Synonyms: globule, sphere, blister, foam, balloon

Antonyms: solid