slub

See also: sľub and ślub

English

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /slʌb/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• (Northern England, Ireland) IPA^(key): /slʊb/
• Rhymes: -ʌb

Noun

slub (countable and uncountable, plural slubs)

1. (countable) A small thickened portion or knot found in yarn, caused by defects or intentionally leaving sections of the yarn unspun.
   • 1987, Paula Simmons, Spinning and weaving with wool, published 1977, →ISBN, page 135:

     The challenge is not just to produce a thick-and-thin yarn, but to make soft slubs, connected by nicely spun yarn without overtwist. The should not be lumps and bumps that happen by accident, but a contrived texture, with the size and placement of the slubs completely controlled by the spinner.

   • 2014, Thomas Allison, Moonshine Memories, page 98:

     The huge bolts of cloth had to be checked for imperfections such as slubs and misweaves.

2. Fabric fiber produced by slubbing.

Verb

slub (third-person singular simple present slubs, present participle slubbing, simple past and past participle slubbed)

1. To draw and twist fibers in order to prepare them for spinning.

Related terms

• slubber
• slubbings
• slubbing billy
• slubby

References

• Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., 1989.
• Random House Webster's Unabridged Electronic Dictionary, 1987-1996.

Anagrams

• blus