hubbub

Alternative forms

• whobub (obsolete)

Etymology

Perhaps from Irish; compare Irish ababú! (a battle-cry), Gaelic ub! ub! (expressing contempt, etc.), ubh ubh! (expressing disgust).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈhʌbʌb/

Noun

hubbub (plural hubbubs)

1. A confused uproar, commotion, tumult or racket.
   • John Milton, Paradise Lost

     At length a universal hubbub wild

     Of stunning sounds and voices all confused,

     Borne through the hollow dark, assaults his ear

     With loudest vehemence.

Verb

hubbub (third-person singular simple present hubbubs, present participle hubbubing or hubbubbing, simple past and past participle hubbubed or hubbubbed)

1. (intransitive) To cause a tumult or racket.
   • 2016, Daniel Gray, Saturday, 3pm: 50 Eternal Delights of Modern Football

     It becomes a grotto, hubbubbing with more noise than any class on a school visit could make, the air mobbed by breathless chatter about life and the transfer window.