Uber

See also: uber, ueber, über, uber-, and über-

English

Etymology

The company's name is from uber, from German über (“above, over”), as in “above all the rest (of the competition),” a principle the founders wanted to build upon.

Pronunciation

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• IPA^(key): /ˈuːbə(ɹ)/
• Rhymes: -uːbə(ɹ)
• Homophone: uber

Noun

Uber (plural Ubers)

1. A car ride requested using the mobile application Uber; the vehicle used for the ride.
   • 2016, Jared Meyer, Uber-Positive: Why Americans Love the Sharing Economy‎^[2], Encounter Books, →ISBN:

     Simply because there are more drivers who have signed up to partner with Uber than there are yellow taxis does not mean that there are more Ubers on the road.

   • 2016, Aaron Keller, Renée Marino, Dan Wallace, The Physics of Brand: Understand the Forces Behind Brands that Matter, Blue Ash, OH: HOW Books, →ISBN, page 143:

     It all comes back to two highly compelling moments. The moment you requested an Uber and the moment you exited the car with a mere thank-you.

   • 2020, Matt Pridgen, Confessions of a Late Night Uber Driver, Lionhearts Press, →ISBN:

     Last week, my cousin asked me how to schedule an Uber for a morning ride to the airport. Because I drive Uber almost every night (and write stories about it), she was quite surprised that I had no idea how to do it.

2. One's passenger or driver on Uber.

Related terms

• uberisation
• uberize
• Uber problem

 

Translations

car ride requested using Uber

• Spanish: uber (es) m

Verb

Uber (third-person singular simple present Ubers, present participle Ubering, simple past and past participle Ubered)

1. (intransitive) To travel via a mobile app-based ridesharing service, particularly but not necessarily Uber.

   Should we take the train or just Uber?

   • 2017 February 28, Adonis Hoffman, “Uber is on a collision course with regulators and lawyers”, in The Hill‎^[3], retrieved 21 March 2017:

     You can Uber to the event and avoid the parking problem.

   • 2017 December 14, Heather Schwedel, “Let’s Uber. I’ll Call a Lyft.”, in Slate‎^[4], retrieved December 14, 2017:

     As with a lot of people I know, Medina doesn’t use Uber, but she still Ubers. When she uses ride-hailing apps—and Uber is no longer among them—she still uses the name as her chosen noun or verb because that’s just what you say now. Should we take the train or just Uber?

Anagrams

• buer, bure, ebru, erub, Bure, Rueb, rube, Rube, Brue, Reub

Occitan

Proper noun

Uber m (Limousin)

1. Alternative form of Ubert. a male given name, equivalent to English Hubert