I. cube ˈkyüb noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle French, from Latin cubus, from Greek kybos cube, cubical die, vertebra, hollow before the hip (in cattle) — more at hip
1.
a. : the regular solid of six equal square sides — see volume table
b. : the product got by taking a number or quantity three times as a factor
2×2×2=8, the cube of 2
c. : cubage
2. : a block or set for road paving
3. : one of the geometric forms into which a natural object is resolved in cubist art
4. slang : die — usually used in plural
throw the cubes
5. : the crystal form in the isometric system that consists of six like, mutually perpendicular faces and differs from the geometrical cube in that the six faces need not be square but must only bear like relations to the internal structure of the crystal
6. : a cubic portion of morphine
II. cube transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
1. : to raise to the third power : form the cube of
2. : to measure the cubic content of
cube a house
3. : to form into a cube : cut into cubes
cube carrots
4. : to cut partly through one or both surfaces of (a steak) in a checkered pattern in order to increase tenderness by breaking the fibers
III. cu·be noun
or cu·bé ˈkyüˌbā, ̷ ̷ˈ
( -s )
Etymology: American Spanish cubé
1. : any of several tropical American shrubs or climbers used as fish poisons and in the manufacture of insecticides ; especially : any of certain plants of the genus Lonchocarpus (especially L. utilis and L. urucu ) the roots of which contain rotenone
2. : the material from cube used as a fish poison or also in ground and refined form as an insecticide — called also barbasco, timbo