tub

obsolete Any general meeting place of dissenters of a given denomination of the (Christian) church; a conventicle. "Autem" is an obsolete slang word for church, and "cackletub" (a slang term for the pulpit of a church) here refers to a gather place of those who spill secrets ("cackle"). I entered into the autem cackletub with trepidation, for who knows what sort one may find in a place of unruly dissent.

obsolete A surprise attack or ambush; a hidden or unseen danger. Primarily heard in US, South Africa. Many people want to legalize marijuana but are in denial of the cats in the meal-tub that may come with doing so. The young political candidate waited like a cat in a meal-tub for his rival's sordid history to come to public attention.

proverb Everyone must be self-sufficient. I know you're worried about your daughter going away to college, but every tub must stand on its own bottom eventually.

proverb Everyone must be self-sufficient. Your daughter will be fine when she goes away to college. Let every tub stand on its own bottom.

To create a diversion, in order to avoid a dangerous or unpleasant situation. No one can know that I'm here, so throw a tub to the whale while I sneak out the back door!

A derogatory term for a fat or obese person. I used to be a tub of guts when I was in high school, but during college I really made an effort to slim down.

A highly derogatory term for an obese person. These glamour magazines make it seem like anyone who's not a cover model is basically a tub of lard.

Forceful or aggressive promotion of one's agenda through public speech or other means. Primarily heard in UK. I wish they would quit their tub-thumping and get on with the show. We don't care about their politics.

Prov. People should be independent. Emily did not want to join the other students, who were helping each other study for the exam. "Every tub must stand on its own bottom," she said. Don't ask me for help. Let every tub stand on its own bottom.

a fat person. (Insulting.) Who's that tub of lard who just came in? That tub of lard can hardly get through the door.

Tub-thumping is used as an adjective and a noun to describe people's behaviour when they are supporting an idea or course of action in a loud and forceful way. Economic recovery does not depend on tub-thumping speeches from politicians, but on the Government creating jobs. The players neither need, nor will respond to, tub-thumping. Note: You can call someone who behaves in this way a tub-thumper. Marsh was far from being a tub-thumper. Note: This expression is used to show disapproval. Note: People sometimes used to refer to pulpits (= the place in a church where the priest stands to speak) as `tubs', especially when talking humorously about nonconformist preachers. The image is of a preacher banging the pulpit with his fist to emphasize his message.