Forms: 1 stubb, styb(b, (steb), 3–7 stubbe, 4–9 stubb, 6 stoubbe, 4– stub. [OE. stub(b masc. = (M)LG., MDu. stubbe (early mod.Du., WFris. stobbe), ON. stubb-r, stubbe, rarely stobbe (MSw. stubbe, stobbe, Sw., Norw. stubbe, stubb, Da. stub):—OTeut. types *stubbo-z, stubbon-; OE. had also stybb masc.:—*stuƀjo-z or *stubbjo-z, which has coalesced with the other form. OE. had prob. a form *stob(b with o- umlaut (cf. the duplicate ON. forms above), whence STOB sb.1; in the 14–16th c., however, stob(b may merely be a variant spelling for stub.
To the same root (*stŭƀ-:—pre-Teut. *stŭp-) belong ON. stúf-r stump (Norw. stuv), (see STOW v.2), MLG. stūve stump, fag-end, stûf blunt; outside Teut. cf. Gr. στύπος stump, stock, Lettish stups fag-end.]
1. A stump of a tree or, more rarely, of a shrub or smaller plant; the portion left fixed in the ground when a tree has been felled; also, † a trunk deprived of branches.
967. Charter of Eadgar, in Kemble, Cod. Dipl., No. 813. III. 10. Andlang dices on ðone stubb.
c. 1000. Ælfric, Gloss., in Wr.-Wülcker, 108/5. Stipes, stipitis, treowwes steb. Ibid. (c. 1000), Gram., ix. (Z.), 68. Hic stirps ðes stybb.
1301. Acc. Exch. Q. R. Bundle 147. No. 10, in G. J. Turner, Sel. Pleas Forest (1901), 147/2. [Six] stubbs [sold for] 3s. 4d.
13[?]. Gaw. & Gr. Knt., 2293. Gawayn … stode stylle as þe ston, oþer a stubbe auþer.
1348–9. in Blount’s Law Dict. (1691), s.v. Zuche, Rex concessit Thomæ de Colvile omnes Zoucheos aridos, vocat. Stubbes arborum succisorum, in Foresta de Galtres.
146[?]. Plumpton Corr. (Camden), 25. And it please to deliver unto Robert of Tymble a Stub, the which Mr. Controller granted unto his ward for him and his wife.
1519. Horman, Vulg., 247 b. We went by strayte pathes full of stoubbys, busshys, and bryers.
1590. Spenser, F. Q., I. ix. 34. Old stockes and stubs of trees, Whereon nor fruit nor leafe was euer seene.
1615. Chapman, Odyss., XII. 611. Yet, might my feete, on no stub fasten hold To ease my hands: the roots were crept so low Beneath the earth.
1621. Lady M. Wroth, Urania, 264. Then went shee a little further, and on a stub, which was betweene two trees, she sate downe.
1671. Milton, P. R., I. 339. We here Live on tough roots and stubs.
1760. R. Brown, Compl. Farmer, II. 101. When it [rape] hath been cut, the stubs of it will sprout again.
1771. Phil. Trans., LXI. 138. In the forest of Kent,… there still remains several large old chesnut stubbs.
1795. Vancouver, Agric. Essex, 152. The remaining stub of the thistle.
1799. Coleridge, Introd. Tale Dark Ladie, 64. How boughs rebounding scourg’d his limbs, And low stubs gor’d his feet.
1823. J. F. Cooper, Pioneers, iii. Unsightly remnants of trees that had been partly destroyed by fire were seen rearing their … columns … above the pure white of the snow. These,… in the language of the country are termed stubs.
1864. G. P. Marsh, Man & Nat., 109. In the United States … dead trees … are often allowed to stand until they fall of themselves. Such stubs, as they are popularly called, are … often deeply cut by the woodpeckers.
1895. Zangwill, Master, II. xi. 268. The woodpeckers tapped on the hollow stubs.
1907. ‘J. Halsham,’ Lonewood Corner, 114. Before the stubs of the underwood have sprouted again to more than a spare covert.
† b. To buy (brushwood, etc.) on or at the stub: to buy on the ground, growing. Hence (?), To pay at the stub: to pay ready money. Obs.
1532. Lett. & Papers Hen. VIII., V. 446. For thorns bought on the stubb…. For edders and stakes bought likewise on the stub.
1573–80. Tusser, Husb. (1878), 78. In time go and bargaine … for fewell…. To buie at the stub is the best for the buier.
1615. Rowlands, Melancholie Knt., C 3. A very Cobler shall as welcome be That payes his readie money at the stub, As I that come a trust to worships dub.
1795. Vancouver, Agric. Essex, 62. The under woods are cut down at eleven years growth, and … they sell at the stub for 3 l. 10 s. per acre.
† c. The part of a tree-trunk close to the ground.
1558–9. Act 1 Eliz., c. 15 § 1. No person … shall convert … to Coale or other Fuell for the making of Yron, any Tymber Tree … of the Breadthe of One Foot Square at the Stubbe.
1587. Harrison, England, II. xvii. 200/1, in Holinshed. For what a thing it is to haue a ship growing upon the stub, ard sailing on the sea within the space of five and fiftie daies?
1637. Heywood, in Naval Chron., III. 370. Timber,… ten feet at the stub or bottom.
† d. A stock for grafting upon. In quot. fig.
1587. Harrison, England, II. i. 139/1, in Holinshed. You shall see no fewer deeds of charitie doone, nor better grounded vpon the right stub of pietie than before.
† 2. fig. A blockhead; = STOCK sb.1 1 c. Obs.
1644. Milton, Educ., 3. Ye shall haue more adoe to driue our dullest and laziest youth, our stocks and stubbs from the infinite desire of such a happy nurture.
3. A short piece of a broken branch remaining on the stem.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Knt.’s T., 1120. First on the wal was peynted a forest … With knotty knarry bareyne trees olde Of stubbes sharpe, and hidouse to biholde.
c. 1440. Ipomydon, 1270. My palfrey … stumblyd … I toke this harme, A stubbe smote me þrow þe arme.
1712. J. James, trans. Le Blond’s Gardening, 159. A Parcel of Stubs [F. chicots], springing out of one Side and the other.
1796. C. Marshall, Garden., xii. (1813), 163. Whether it is best to cut all spare shoots clean out, or to cut down to little stubs or false spurs is hardly yet determined.
1846. J. Baxter’s Libr. Pract. Agric. (ed. 4), I. 164. Some cut superfluous fruit-shoots clean away; others leave a sprinkling of short stubs, cut very short if foreright.
1884. J. Burroughs, in Century Mag., Dec., 222/1. His drum was the stub of a dry limb about the size of one’s wrist.
4. = STUBBLE sb. Also pl. Now dial. [So Sw. stubbe, Da. stub.]
a. 1250. Owl & Night., 506. Ȝet þu singst worse þon þe heisugge, [Þ]at fliȝþ bi grunde among þe stubbe.
1552. Huloet, Stubbe of corne, stipula, stupa.
1677. Plot, Oxfordsh., 246. If they are to sow wheat upon tillage, they choose wheat sown before upon bean stubs.
1811. T. Davis, Agric. Wilts, 266. Stubs. The stubble of all corn is usually called stubs, as wheat-stubs, barley-stubs, &c.
1820. Clare, Poems Rural Life (ed. 3), 95. But ill it suits thee in the stubs to glean.
† b. pl. The lower ends of cut stems of plants.
1764. Museum Rust., II. 81. It [sc. reaped coleseed] must not be turned, but raised up gently and laid lightly on the stubs.
† c. In the stub: said of growing flax. Obs.
1730. Swift, Answ. Craftsman, Wks. 1905, VII. 222. All the said commodities shall be sent in their natural state; the hides raw, the wool uncombed, the flax in the stub.
d. pl. Hair cut close to the skin. Now dial.
1607. R. Turner, Nosce Te, D 1. A chinne as free from beard as any dogge, Saue stubbes more hard then brisles of a hogge.
5. A splinter or thorn in the flesh. Now dial.
1531. Elyot, Gov., II. xiii. (1557), 137. Out of whose foote a yong man had ones taken a stubbe.
1639. T. de Grey, Compl. Horsem., 160. To draw a thorne, stub, iron, splinter, naile … out of the flesh of the horse.
1753. Chambers’ Cycl., Suppl., Stub, in the manege, is used for a splinter of fresh-cut underwood, that goes into a horse’s foot as he runs.
1894. Blackmore, Perlycross, xxi. 197. Upon a truss of furze, with a flour-sack to shield him from the stubs and prickles.
† b. A stab or twinge of pain. Now dial.
1587. M. Grove, Pelops & Hippod. (1878), 86. Ixion nayled on the whirling wheele, which hellish stubs & irksom pains doth feele.
6. A short thick nail (= STOB sb.1 4); a worn horseshoe nail, esp. in pl. old horseshoe nails and other similar scraps as the material for making stub-iron. Cf. stub-nail.
1394–5. in Cartul. Abb. Whiteby (Surtees), 615. It. pro viiixx cartnayle, x s. It. pro im stubs, ii s.
1595. Strange Things R. Hasleton, in Arb., Garner, VIII. 387. And immediately searching about, I found an old iron stub; with the which I brake a hole through the chamber wall.
1669. Sturmy, Mariner’s Mag., V. xiii. 86. Fill it with Pibble-stones, Nails, Stubs of old Iron.
1720. De Foe, Capt. Singleton (1906), 256. He ordered that all the guns … should be loaded with musket balls, old nails, stubs [etc.].
1820. W. Scoresby, Acc. Arctic Reg., II. 225. That kind which is of the most approved tenacity, is made of old horse-shoe nails or stubs.
1845. Penny Cycl., Suppl. I. 673. Horse-nails … which when worn out are collected with avidity as furnishing one of the best descriptions of scrap-iron, under the name of horse-nail stubs.
1846. Greener, Sci. Gunnery, 107. An equal substance of the best steel ever invented or made, is less in tenacity than a mixture similar to stubs and steel.
1863. Mrs. Gaskell, Sylvia’s L., xvi. Hammers beating out old iron such as horseshoes, nails or stubs into the great harpoons.
b. Short for stub-barrel: see 11.
1853. Ure, Dict. Arts, I. 724. The barrels of musquets, birding-guns, etc. or what are called plain, to distinguish them from those denominated stubs or twisted barrels.
7. Something that looks stunted or cut short, e.g., a rudimentary tail or horn.
1670–1. Narborough, Jrnl., in Acc. Sev. Late Voy., I. (1694), 33. They are shaped like English Hares … and instead of a Tail have a little stub about an inch long, without Hair on it.
1693. Evelyn, De la Quint. Compl. Gard., II. 111. The Scutcheon cannot thrive, unless it be absolutely glued to the part to which it is apply’d; and consequently that part must be as smooth as the Scutcheon, which cannot be when a Scutcheon is apply’d upon an Eye, or Bud, which is an Elevated part, that forms a kind of Stub.
a. 1722. Lisle, Husb. (1757), 377. There will remain a little stub at the end of the twig, which dries up.
1887. W. T. Hornaday, in Smithsonian Rep., II. 397. The horn [of the buffalo] at three months is about 1 inch in length, and is a mere little black stub.
b. A short thick piece of wood.
1833. W. H. Maxwell, Field Bk., 522. Stub,… a log.
1844. Stephens, Bk. Farm, I. 605. At the distance of a foot behind the coulter-box a strong stub of wood is mortised into the beam at C. Ibid. The two stilts or handles are simply bolted to the stub.
1898. Sloane, Electr. Dict. (ed. 2), 622. Stub, anchor guy, a short pole set securely in the ground to fasten a guy to.
c. (See quot.)
1884. Knight, Dict. Mech., Suppl. 869. Stub.… 2. Short files for finishing in and around depressions.
d. U. S. colloq. A man of insignificant stature. Cf. STUB a.
1890. J. Curtin, trans. Sienkiewicz’ With Fire & Sword, xliv. (1892), 514. I have something to say to this little stub of an officer.
8. Mech. A stud or projection; spec. in a lock, a stationary stud which acts as a detent for the tumblers when their slots are in engagement with it.
1561. Eden, trans. Cortes’ Art Navig., III. xi. 78 b. But for the Sea, you shall sother the Horizon two Axes, little stubbes, or endes commyng foorth.
1778. in Abridgm. Specif. Patents Locks, etc. (1873), 2. An improvement on the tumbler and spring by means of a stub or projection so exactly fitted to a passage or opening in the bolt as not to permit the bolt to pass unless [etc.].
1825. J. Nicholson, Operat. Mechanic, 324. [Maudslay’s lathes.] In the part C is an oblique slit l l, to receive a stub which projects from the bottom of the nut n,… by this arrangement it is obvious that if the screw m is worked, the stub of the nut n, acting against the slide of the slit l l, as an inclined plane, will move it either backwards or forwards through the opening M.
9. The remaining portion of something (more or less cylindrical) that has been broken or worn down; a stump, fag-end.
c. 1530. Ld. Berners, Arth. Lyt. Bryt. (1814), 214. He gaue Arthur a grete stroke with the stubbe of his hurte arme.
1869. ‘Mark Twain,’ Innoc. Abr., xvii. 116. You cannot throw an old cigar ‘stub’ down any where.
1898. Hamblen, Gen. Manager’s Story, xii. 191. There lay a fellow at full length, his head resting on his hand, riding along comfortably and smoking an old stub of a clay pipe.
1912. H. Belloc, Four Men, 27. ‘It is to sharpen this pencil with,’ said the stranger, putting forth a stub of an H.B. much shorter than his thumb.
b. = stub pen (see 11). ? Obs.
1829. Lamb, Lett. to B. W. Procter, in Ainger, Lett. (1888), II. 219. The comings in of an incipient conveyancer are not adequate to the receipt of three twopenny post nonpaids in a week. Therefore after this, I condemn my stub to long and deep silence.
1876. N. Amer. Rev., CXXIII. 301. For which check stubs representing only small amounts were retained.
1884. R. Wheatley, in Harper’s Mag., June, 61/2. Pay rolls, check-book stubs, registers, etc., etc., are here stowed away.
1916. A. B. Reeve, Poisoned Pen, x. ‘Number 156,’ Herndon noted, as the collector detached the stub and handed it to her.
11. attrib. and Comb., as (sense 1) stub-oak, -wood; (sense 4) stub-thatched adj.; (sense 4 d) stub-bearded adj.; (sense 9 b) stub-pointed adj.; stub-axle (see quots.); stub-barrel, a gun-barrel made of strips of stub-iron; stub-book U.S., a book containing only the counterfoils of cheques or other documents; stub-bred a. Hunting (see quot.); stub Damascus, a kind of stub-iron resembling Damascus iron; stub-dig dial. = stub-hoe; † stub eel, some variety of eel; stub-end, the butt end of a connecting-rod, of a weapon, etc.; † stub-faced a. slang (see quot.); stub-feather (see quot. 1847); stub-hoe, an implement for grubbing up stubs; stub-iron, a tenacious kind of iron, originally made out of old horse-shoe nails; † stub-money (see quot.); stub-mortise (see quot.); stub-mortised a., secured by a stub-mortise; stub-nail = sense 6; stub-nail iron = stub-iron; stub-pen, orig. a worn quill pen; hence a broad-pointed pen; stub-rabbit dial., a rabbit that seeks shelter among stubs instead of going to ground; stub-short, -shot (see quot.); stub-side, the side of a swath that has the cut ends of the stems; stub-switch U.S. (see quot.); stub-tail, (a) a partridge at a certain stage of growth; (b) see quot. 1867; stub-tenon (see quot.); stub-tooth Mech. (see quot.); stub-twist, a material for fine gun-barrels, composed of a ribbon of stub-iron twisted into a spiral shape.
1875. Knight, Dict. Mech., 2431. *Stub-axle, a short axle attached on the end of a principal axle-tree.
1907. O’Gorman, Motor Pocket Bk. (ed. 2), 505. The stub axle is the short axle which is so pivoted that the front (or steering) wheels can be deflected.
1833. J. Holland, Manuf. Metal, II. 101. The Birmingham workmen, in preparing the material for *stub barrels, usually cut up strips of iron and steel,… into bits like two inch nails.
1891. Kipling, Light that Failed, xiv. 280. A *stub-bearded, bowed creature wearing a dirty magenta coloured neckcloth outside an unbrushed coat.
1886. Rep. of U.S. Soc. of Treasury, 700 (Cent.). The filed *stub-books of stamps, now occupying a very large and rapidly increasing space in the files-rooms.
1826. J. Cook, Fox-hunting, 57. *Stub bred foxes are thought to be the stoutest.
1897. Encycl. Sport, I. 583/1. (Hunting, fox) Stub-bred, Stump-bred. Foxes which, in certain districts, make their lairs in bushes or stumps instead of underground; stubbed was the old term.
1845. Penny Cycl., Suppl. I. 673. *Stub Damascus is a very beautiful kind of iron formed like the Damascus iron above described.
1862. Catal. Internat. Exhib., II. xi. 7. Double gun, stub Damascus barrels.
1837. Boston Advertiser, 17 Jan., 2/2. Thomas Chapman … charged with stealing a *stub dig.
15[?]. in Dugdale, Monasticon (1655), I. 81/2. Also to be sure of xij. *stubbe elles and lx. schafte eles to bake for the covent on shere thursday.
1545. Rates Custom Ho., b j. Elis called stubbe elis. Ibid. (1582), B vij b. Eeles called stub Eeles.
1875. Knight, Dict. Mech., *Stub-end, the large end of a connecting-rod, in which the boxes are confined by the strap.
1914. Daily News, 7 Nov., 1. Even if he has nothing more formidable than an empty bully-beef can to rattle with the stub-end of his bayonet.
1788. Grose, Dict. Vulgar T. (ed. 2), *Stub-faced, pitted with small-pox: the devil run over his face with horse stubbs (horse nails) in his shoes.
1847. Halliwell, *Stub-feathers, the short unfledged feathers on a fowl after it has been plucked.
1889. Cornh. Mag., April, 376. It is a rare thing not to find stub feathers somewhere about a hawk or an owl when you shoot it.
1870. Emerson, Soc. & Solit., Eloq., Wks. (Bohn), III. 39. He is a graduate of the plough, and the *stub-hoe, and the bush-whacker.
1820. W. Scoresby, Acc. Arctic Reg., II. 225. Some manufacturers enclose a quantity of *stub-iron in a cylinder of best foreign iron.
1776. Compl. Grazier (ed. 4), 78. The woodward is allowed a shilling a range, as above, (called *stub-money) for his care in looking after the wood.
1846. Worcester (citing Loudon), *Stub-mortise, a mortise that does not pass through the timber mortised.
1833. Loudon, Encycl. Archit., § 1251. With an oak cap properly *stub-mortised.
1639. G. Plattes, Discov. Subterr. Treas., 41. I took 4. ounces of Iron in *stub nailes.
1683. Moxon, Mech. Exerc., Printing, xviii. ¶ 2. They chuse stub-Nails for the best Iron to Melt.
1802. C. James, Milit. Dict., Stub-Nails are driven on the outside of the nave-hoops, to keep them in their places.
1839. Ure, Dict. Arts, 471. The best modern barrels for fowling pieces are constructed of *stub-nail iron in this manner.
1880. Blackmore, Mary Anerley, xl. A thicket of *stub oak.
1891. Century Dict., *Stub pen.
1897. Westm. Gaz., 13 Jan., 5/1. The first signature is ‘Julian Pauncefote,’ written with an extra broad-pointed steel stub pen.
1909. Daily Chron., 18 Sept., 10/6. advt., In this trial box of specially assorted pens you are offered a wonderful variety of fine, medium, and *stub-pointed pens to suit all hands.
1845. Zoologist, III. 903. There is a variety … called … in the northern parts of the same county [Herts.] the *stub-rabbit.
1875. Knight, Dict. Mech., *Stub-short; Stub-shot. 1. The unsawed portion of a plank where it is split from the bolt or log. 2. (Turning.) The portion by which an object to be turned is grasped or chucked.
1733. Tull, Horse-Hoeing Husb., xiv. 188. ’Tis best to raise up the Ear-sides first, and let the *Stub-side rest on the Ground in turning.
1911. Webster, *Stub switch, Railroading, a switch in which the track rails are cut off squarely at the toe and the switch rails are thrown to butt end to end with the lead rails.
1686. Blome, Gentl. Recr., II. 37/1. Larg Partridges called *Stubtayls…. There are several names or distinctions of Partridges; the first, when newly hatched, are called Whiteheads, the second Names are Chick-tayls, the third Stubtayls.
1867. Simmonds, Dict. Trade, Suppl., Stubtail, Stumptail, names in North America for flour made out of damaged wheat and good wheat ground together.
1875. Knight, Dict. Mech., *Stub-tenon, a short tenon at the foot of an upright, such as the scantling or studding of a partition or a floor-bearer.
1910. J. Bartlett, in Encycl. Brit., V. 387/2. A stub tenon or joggle (fig. 14) is used for fixing a post to a sill.
1872. J. G. Michie, Deeside Tales (1908), 255. A little *stub-thatched cottage.
1913. Webster, *Stub Tooth, a short gear tooth of great strength, with a large angle of obliquity.
1843. Holtzapffel, Turning, I. 221. The complex and ornamental figures for the barrels of fowling-pieces, described as *‘stub-twist, wire-twist, Damascus-twist.’
1770. Phil. Trans., LXI. 155. The woods … have great plenty of chesnut, both timber and *stub wood.
1787. W. H. Marshall, E. Norfolk (1795), II. 389. Stubwood, all wood which grows in hedgerows and does not come under the denomination of ‘timbers,’ ‘pollards,’ or ‘thorns,’ is called ‘stubwood.’
