2 N‑COUNT A Cuban is a Cuban citizen, or a person of Cuban origin.
cubby-hole /kʌ bi hoʊl/ (cubby-holes ) also cubbyhole N‑COUNT A cubby-hole is a very small room or space for storing things. □ It's in the cubby-hole under the stairs.
cube /kjuː b/ (cubes , cubing , cubed )
1 N‑COUNT A cube is a solid object with six square surfaces which are all the same size. □ …cold water with ice cubes in it. □ The cabinet comes with locks and key and is shaped like a cube.
2 VERB When you cube food, you cut it into cube-shaped pieces. □ [V n] Remove the seeds and stones and cube the flesh. □ [V -ed] Serve with cubed bread.
3 N‑COUNT [usu sing] The cube of a number is another number that is produced by multiplying the first number by itself twice. For example, the cube of 2 is 8.
cu be roo t (cube roots ) N‑COUNT [usu sing] The cube root of a number is another number that makes the first number when it is multiplied by itself twice. For example, the cube root of 8 is 2.
cu|bic /kjuː b I k/ ADJ [ADJ n] Cubic is used in front of units of length to form units of volume such as 'cubic metre' and 'cubic foot'. □ …3 billion cubic metres of soil.
cu|bi|cle /kjuː b I k ə l/ (cubicles ) N‑COUNT A cubicle is a very small enclosed area, for example one where you can have a shower or change your clothes. □ …a separate shower cubicle.
Cub|ism /kjuː b I zəm/ N‑UNCOUNT Cubism is a style of art, begun in the early twentieth century, in which objects are represented as if they could be seen from several different positions at the same time, using many lines and geometric shapes.
Cub|ist /kjuː b I st/ (Cubists )
1 N‑COUNT A Cubist is an artist who painted in the style of Cubism.
2 ADJ [ADJ n] Cubist art is art in the style of Cubism. □ …Picasso's seminal Cubist painting, 'The Poet'.
cu|boid /kjuː bɔ I d/ (cuboids ) N‑COUNT A cuboid is a solid shape with six rectangular surfaces or four rectangular and two square surfaces. □ Instead of a cylindrical tin, the chocolates will come in a cardboard cuboid. ● ADJ [usu ADJ n] Cuboid is also an adjective. □ The building consists of five interlinked cuboid galleries.
cu b re|port|er (cub reporters ) N‑COUNT A cub reporter is a young newspaper journalist who is still being trained. □ He had been a cub reporter for the Kansas City Star.
cu b scout → see cub
cuck|old /kʌ koʊld/ (cuckolds , cuckolding , cuckolded )
1 N‑COUNT A cuckold is a man whose wife is having an affair with another man. [LITERARY ]
2 VERB If a married woman is having an affair, she and her lover are cuckolding her husband. [LITERARY ] □ [V n] His wife had cuckolded him.
cuckoo /kʊ kuː/ (cuckoos ) N‑COUNT A cuckoo is a bird that has a call of two quick notes, and lays its eggs in other birds' nests.
cu ckoo clock (cuckoo clocks ) N‑COUNT A cuckoo clock is a clock with a door from which a toy cuckoo comes out and makes noises like a cuckoo every hour or half hour.
cu|cum|ber /kjuː kʌmbə r / (cucumbers )
1 N‑VAR A cucumber is a long thin vegetable with a hard green skin and wet transparent flesh. It is eaten raw in salads.
2 PHRASE If you say that someone is as cool as a cucumber , you are emphasizing that they are very calm and relaxed, especially when you would not expect them to be. [EMPHASIS ] □ You can hardly be held responsible for Darrow waltzing in, cool as a cucumber, and demanding thousands of pounds.
cud /kʌ d/ PHRASE When animals such as cows or sheep chew the cud , they slowly chew their partly-digested food over and over again in their mouth before finally swallowing it.
cud|dle /kʌ d ə l/ (cuddles , cuddling , cuddled ) VERB If you cuddle someone, you put your arms round them and hold them close as a way of showing your affection. □ [V n] He cuddled the newborn girl. □ [V ] They used to kiss and cuddle in front of everyone. ● N‑COUNT Cuddle is also a noun. □ Give her a cuddle.
cud|dly /kʌ d ə li/ (cuddlier , cuddliest )
1 ADJ A cuddly person or animal makes you want to cuddle them. [APPROVAL ] □ He is a small, cuddly man with spectacles.
2 ADJ [ADJ n] Cuddly toys are soft toys that look like animals.
cudg|el /kʌ dʒ ə l/ (cudgels )
1 N‑COUNT A cudgel is a thick, short stick that is used as a weapon.
2 PHRASE If you take up the cudgels for someone or something, you speak or fight in support of them. □ [+ for/against ] The trade unions took up the cudgels for the 367 staff made redundant.
cue ◆◇◇ /kjuː / (cues , cueing , cued )
1 N‑COUNT [oft with poss] In the theatre or in a musical performance, a performer's cue is something another performer says or does that is a signal for them to begin speaking, playing, or doing something. □ I had never known him miss a cue.
2 VERB If one performer cues another, they say or do something which is a signal for the second performer to begin speaking, playing, or doing something. □ [V n] He read the scene, with Seaton cueing him.
3 N‑COUNT [N to-inf] If you say that something that happens is a cue for an action, you mean that people start doing that action when it happens. □ [+ for ] That was the cue for several months of intense bargaining.