Hub Meaning
/hʌb/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounThe central part, usually cylindrical, of a wheel; the nave.
nounA point where many routes meet and traffic is distributed, dispensed, or diverted.
Sentence Examples
If you combine them in this way, you get a 14 port USB hub.
Zürich is considered to be a major financial hub.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The new airport will serve as the ____ for all cargo flights in the region.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The city serves as a major transportation ____ for the entire surrounding region.
Word Origin & History
From earlier hubbe, which has the same immediate origin as hob. Hub was originally a dialectal word; its ultimate origin is unknown. Compare German Hubbel (“bump on a surface”), from Proto-West Germanic *hubil (“bump, hill”) (which contains a diminutive suffix *-il); compare English hive, or perhaps ultimately from the same root as hip or hop.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"If you need to reload film, the cassette can be rewound slightly by turning the hub located on one end of its spool."
— 2011, Rebekah Modrak, Bill Anthes, Reframing Photography: Theory and Practice:
"From the ground, Colombo's port does not look like much.[…] But viewed from high up in one of the growing number of skyscrapers in Sri Lanka's capital, it is clear that something extraordinary is happening: China is creating a shipping hub just 200 miles from India's southern tip."
— 2013 June 8, “The new masters and commanders”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8839, page 52:
"Doncaster is a rail hub in every sense. Passenger lines radiate in six directions, there are freight lines that bypass the station, extensive freight yards, a major works, and a rolling stock depot."
— 2021 May 19, Philip Haigh, “Doncaster enhancements relying on DfT approval”, in RAIL, number 931, page 30:
"In a break with tradition, these levels are tackled in any order, with the next act chosen from a semi-random selection machine located in the game's hub area."
— 2014, Julian Hazeldine, Speedrun: The Unauthorised History of Sonic The Hedgehog, page 47:
"It will eventually, the Hub will replace every video site since it has everything for let's plays to porn."
— 2019 November 18, u/karbonpanzer, “Porn hub^([sic]) should be the new youtube”, in Reddit, r/unpopularopinion, archived from the original on 26 Dec 2023:
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CEFR Practice Quiz
The new airport will serve as the ____ for all cargo flights in the region.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The city serves as a major transportation ____ for the entire surrounding region.