[corresponds to F. cuber (1554 in Hatzfeld) and prob. mod.L. cubāre, f. L. cubus CUBE.]
1. Arith. and Alg. To raise (a quantity) to the third power; to find the cube of.
1588. Lucar, trans. Tartaglias Colloq. Shooting, 62. I did cube those foure ynches and the cube thereof was 64.
176593. Blackstone, Comm., I. (ed. 16), 2745. Superficial measures are derived by squaring those of length; and measures of capacity by cubing them.
1827. Hutton, Course Math., I. 8. 83 denotes that the number 8 is to be cubed.
2. Mensuration. To measure or compute the cubic content of.
1668. Phil. Trans., III. 686. He Cubeth or measureth either of the Segments of a Parabolical Conoid cut parallel to the Axis.
1883. Pall Mall Gaz., 22 Dec., 1/2. I have counted the inmates, cubed the rooms.
3. To pave with cubes or cubical blocks.
1887. Daily News, 22 Oct., 2/4. They declined to cube the roadway beyond the statutory 18 inches outside their tram-lines.