cube
/kjuːb
/noun
1A symmetrical three-dimensional shape, either solid or hollow, contained by six equal squares: what is the surface area of a 2 cm cube? it was a rough shape, neither a cube nor a sphere...
- Plato believed that atoms have the shapes of regular polyhedra: cubes, tetrahedrons, octahedrons, and so on.
- These are often known as the Platonic solids: the tetrahedron, cube, octahedron, dodecahedron and icosahedron.
- The fluorite tends to occur only as cubes modified by the dodecahedron, with simple cubes or octahedra uncommon or absent.
Synonyms
hexahedron, cuboid, parallelepiped;
block, brick, lump, chunk
1.1A block of something with six sides: a sugar cube...
- When the concrete dust cleared, we saw a large, jagged hole in the side of the stone cube.
- The golden beaches of Longniddry are fringed by tank-busting blocks, 3m cubes of concrete designed to help foil an envisaged invasion.
- It was most memorable for the generous amount of clams, shrimp, and cubes of fish - in fact, I kept discovering more and more seafood under the noodles.
1.2A partitioned-off area in an office containing a desk; a cubicle.David Howell gave his sticker a place of honor in his cube....
- The rooms they are in are just cubes, with one door on each wall.
- The workplace is not just about cubes or offices.
2 Mathematics The product of a number multiplied by its square, represented by a superscript figure 3: a body increasing in weight by the cube of its length...
- They drew up multiplication tables and tables of reciprocals, squares, cubes and exponentials, and used them to calculate compound interest and mortgage repayments.
- Ladies and gents, it's all about the primes, the squares, the occasional cube, a few multiplication tables of primes.
- According to the precise rate, the volume of the sphere is the cube of the diameter multiplied by 11 and divided by 21.
verb [with object]
1 Mathematics Raise (a number or value) to its cube: cube the deviations from the mean 1200 metres cubed...
- But in any standard treatment, squaring or cubing an infinite number gives the same infinite number.
- Canadian lotteries also require a skill testing question to claim your prize by adding all numbers chosen for the draw, cubing the total and finding the nearest prime number.
- He has seen the link between squaring the circle and cubing the sphere, and has been able to translate progress on the first of these two problems into progress on the second.
2Cut (food) into small cubes: I bought sirloin from the butcher and cubed it myself...
- It was laden with two bowls of steaming chilli, a monstrous plate of salad, and several side dishes of onion, cheese, sour cream, and cubed bread.
- Add cubed potatoes, cook for a while, add chick peas, and garden peas, and some torn basil leaves.
- Place peeled and cubed sweet potatoes in a large saucepan and add enough water to cover.
Origin
Mid 16th century: from Old French, or via Latin from Greek kubos.