bubbler

English

A typical bubbler

A Benson bubbler in Portland, Oregon

Etymology

From bubble +‎ -er.

Pronunciation

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Noun

bubbler (plural bubblers)

1. Something that emits bubbles.
   • 1860, Charles Stuart Forbes, Iceland; Its Volcanoes, Geysers and Glaciers‎^[1], page 247:

     In proof of this I can assert my success in extinguishing a youthful bubbler near Reykholt church.

2. An airstone for an aquarium.
3. (Wisconsin, New England, Australia) A drinking fountain.
   • 1919 February, United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, Bulletin of the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, number 250, page 39:

     There are many types of fountain from which persons may drink by taking the nozzle of the bubbler into the mouth, and this practice is common; furthermore, there are many types in the use of which water from the lips of the consumer falls back onto the bubbler at the point of outlet.

   • 1939 June, Ella Gardner, Short-Time Camps: A Manual for 4-H Leaders, United States Department of Agriculture, Miscellaneous Publication No. 346, page 11,

     Plans for an inexpensive bubbler or drinking fountain that have been worked out by the 4-H Club department in Massachusetts are shown in figure 4.

   • 1962 February, Repairs and Utilities: Refrigeration, Air Conditioning, Mechanical Ventilation, and Evaporative Cooling, United States Department of the Army, Technical Manual TM 5-670, page 82,

     Small self-contained water coolers have a limited capacity of cooled water. They are equipped with one bubbler or drinking fountain and have a capacity of about 5 gallons of cooled water per hour or less.

4. (cannabis subculture) A device used for smoking marijuana, similar to a cannabis pipe but with a section that holds water, like a bong
5. (obsolete) One who cheats.
   • 1772, Alexander Pope, “Letter VII”, in The Works of Alexander Pope, Esq, volume V, London: [s.n.], →OCLC, page 227:

     ...above all the Jews, jobbers, bubblers, ſubſcribers, projectors, directors, governors, treaſurers, &c.

6. (US) A freshwater drum (Aplodinotus grunniens), of central North America.

Usage notes

In Portland, Oregon, used primarily in the phrase “Benson Bubbler”.

Synonyms

• (drinking fountain): drinking fountain, water fountain
• (device for smoking marijuana): bubbler bong

Derived terms

Gas bubblers

• (something that emits bubbles): gas bubbler

Translations

device for inhaling smoke that passes though a liquid for cooling or flavouring

• French: pipe à eau (fr) f

References

• Map of “bubbler, drinking fountain, water fountain” usage in the United States, Harvard Dialect Survey, Bert Vaux
• The Meaning of the Bubbler
• Use of bubbler as a synonym for drinking fountain, LINGUIST List 5.1377, Fri 02 Dec 1994
• Wisconsin Englishes: Words

Anagrams

• blubber