hub
pronunciation
How to pronounce hub in British English:
UK [hʌb]
How to pronounce hub in American English:
US [hʌb]
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- Noun:
- the central part of a car wheel (or fan or propeller etc) through which the shaft or axle passes
- a center of activity or interest or commerce or transportation; a focal point around which events revolve
Word Origin
- hub
- hub: [17] Hub is one of those words that emerge unheralded from the undergrowth of language, its forbears uncertain. It seems originally to have meant ‘lump’, and is probably ultimately the same word as hob [16]. This was at first spelled hub and may have denoted a lump of clay used as a bakestone, or a brick or clay projection at the back of a fire on which things were placed to keep warm. And hobnail [16] is etymologically a nail with a large ‘lumpy’ head.=> hob
- hub (n.)
- "solid center of a wheel," 1640s, perhaps from hubbe, originally "lump," the source of hob of a fireplace and hobnail, as in boots. A wheelwright's word, not generally known or used until c. 1828; it reached wider currency in connection with bicycles. Meaning "center of interest or activity or importance" first recorded 1858 in writings of Oliver W. Holmes, and originally especially of Boston."Boston State-House is the hub of the solar system." [O.W. Holmes, "Autocrat of the Breakfast Table"] "[E]verybody knows that Boston used to be called the Hub, meaning the hub of the universe. It may still be the hub, because the center of a wheel moves slowly." [J.P. Marquand, "Life," March 24, 1941]
Example
- 1. But parts of the global hub are rusting badly .
- 2. Greece offers a superb transport hub for europe-asia trade .
- 3. Several carmakers and component suppliers are interested in hub motors .
- 4. When certain switches are overloaded they often drop into a " hub " mode .
- 5. Syria is a natural transit hub for the region 's energy exports .