Meanings
plural boob tubes
- datedderogatoryinformalA television.
Pictured on boob-tubes innumerable, babbled on travelling transistors Australia-wide.
1970, Barry Oakley, chapter XLI, in A Salute to the Great McCarthy, Penguin Books Australia, published 1971, page 1871 more example
“Hey, guys. We were just watching some boob tube over here. Out of earshot, if you were wondering.” “Yeah! It's a show where celebrities dive into a pool and get scores. So...” “So, that's what we are doing.”
2016 June 27, Brian Boyle, “Standard Deviation” (6:41 from the start), in American Dad!, season 13, episode 22, spoken by Klaus Heisler (Dee Bradley Baker)Synonyms: idiot box, zombie box
- informalA type of woman's upper body garment consisting of a taut band of cloth around the breasts and back.
At the same time, Tara puts her arms into her boob tube.
2015, Oscar Phoenix, This Hostage to Fortune1 more example
A midget prostitute in heels and a boob tube was walking on the bar.
2005, Paul Carter, chapter VII, in Don't Tell Mum I Work on the Rigs, Sydney: Allen and Unwin, page 92Synonyms: tube top
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA television.
nounA type of woman's upper body garment consisting of a taut band of cloth around the breasts and back.
More synonyms by meaning
nounan electronic device that receives television signals and displays them on a screen
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
* (television): An allusion to the idiocy of television programming and the supposed audience for such (boobs) and that the televisions of that era used cathode ray tube (CRT) vacuum tube displays. First use appears c. 1959, in the The Herald Journal. * (clothing): Due to the clothing being a tube-like garment that covers the breasts (boobs) of a woman. First use appears c. 1977, in the Daily Mail.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Finnish töllötin
- töllötinslightly derogatory term for television
French téloche
- télocheslightly derogatory term for television
German Glotze
- Glotzeslightly derogatory term for television
Greek χαζοκούτι
- χαζοκούτι (chazokoúti)slightly derogatory term for television
Russian я́щик
- я́щик (jáščik)slightly derogatory term for television
Spanish caja idiota, caja tonta
- caja idiotaslightly derogatory term for television
- caja tontaslightly derogatory term for television
Swedish dumburk
- dumburkslightly derogatory term for television
Cite this entry
boob tube. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/boob%20tube
“boob tube.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/boob%20tube. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “boob tube,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/boob%20tube.
Source: boob tube on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.