cubes
cubes — noun
1. a three-dimensional shape whose six flat faces are all squares of the same size,
a three-dimensional shape whose six flat faces are all squares of the same size, like a dice or a sugar lump.
Asher arranged twenty colored cubes on the classroom carpet to teach his daughter shapes.
countable plural use: 'arranged ... cubes'
Mayumi dropped two cubes of ice into her glass of warm tea.
collocation: 'cubes of ice / sugar / cheese'
The chef chopped the potatoes into small cubes before frying them in olive oil.
Each side of these wooden cubes measures exactly five centimetres.
The art gallery displayed huge metal cubes along the front lawn.
文法句型
a cube of [substance]
用法筆記
Frequently appears in cooking and craft contexts with the pattern 'cubes of [food]' (cubes of cheese, ice, sugar, tofu).
常見錯誤
2. in mathematics, the results you get when you multiply a number by itself and the
in mathematics, the results you get when you multiply a number by itself and then by itself again; for example, the cubes of 2, 3, and 4 are 8, 27, and 64.
Yan asked his students to calculate the cubes of all the numbers from one to ten.
pattern: 'cubes of [numbers]'
The teacher wrote the first six cubes on the board: 1, 8, 27, 64, 125, and 216.
Mauricio noticed that the cubes of even numbers are always even.
Memorising the cubes of small numbers helps Emma solve volume problems faster.
- third powers
formal mathematical equivalent; less common in everyday speech
- cube roots
the inverse operation: the number that, cubed, gives the target
文法句型
the cube of [number]
用法筆記
Distinguish from sense 1 (the solid shape): this sense always refers to a number resulting from cubing, and the context is mathematical.
常見錯誤
cubes — verb
1. (used in the form 'cubes' as he/she/it cubes) chops food into small block-shaped
(used in the form 'cubes' as he/she/it cubes) chops food into small block-shaped pieces, usually before cooking.
Tanvi cubes the chicken first, then marinates the pieces in soy sauce overnight.
transitive: 'cubes + [food noun]'
Each Saturday morning Isabela cubes the mango while it is still slightly firm.
Kofi always cubes the cheese before adding it to the salad.
Reuben cubes the beef into bite-sized pieces for his weekend stew.
- slices
produces flat pieces, not blocks
文法句型
cubes + [food noun]
用法筆記
Subject is usually the cook; object is almost always a food item (meat, cheese, fruit, vegetables). The verb implies pieces about 1-2 cm on each side.
常見錯誤
2. (in mathematics) takes a number and multiplies it by itself twice in a row; for
(in mathematics) takes a number and multiplies it by itself twice in a row; for instance, when you cube 4 you get 4 × 4 × 4 = 64.
Élise cubes each input value before plotting the points on her graph.
transitive: 'cubes + [number]'
The calculator app cubes any number you type when you press the x³ button.
Kian cubes the radius and then multiplies by a constant to find the sphere's volume.
The program cubes every integer between one and one hundred for the demonstration.
- raises to the third power
formal mathematical equivalent
- takes the cube root of
the inverse operation
文法句型
cubes + [number]
用法筆記
Distinguish from sense 1: this sense's object is a number or a variable representing a number, not a food item. Often paired with 'squares' (raise to the second power) in mathematical instructions.
常見錯誤
cubes — adjective
1. (in older or technical mathematical writing) describing a quantity that has been
(in older or technical mathematical writing) describing a quantity that has been multiplied by itself twice; almost always replaced today by 'cubed' or the exponent notation.
Older textbooks at the Mizuki Institute still write 'cubes 5' where modern ones write '5 cubed' or '5³'.
attributive: 'cubes [number]'
Madison found the phrase 'cubes 8' in a Victorian arithmetic book at the library.
Modern teachers seldom use the cubes adjective form; the past participle 'cubed' has replaced it almost everywhere.
The archive's old engineering tables list the cubes value of every integer up to one thousand.
- cubed
the modern past-participle form; preferred in current writing
文法句型
cubes [number]
用法筆記
Now archaic in mainstream English; learners will almost always meet 'cubed' instead (e.g. 'a number cubed', '5 cubed equals 125'). Include this entry only for reading older mathematical texts.