Bubble (A).

A scheme of no sterling worth and of very ephemeral duration—as worthless and frail as a bubble.

“The whole scheme [the Fenian raid on British America] was a collapsed bubble.”—The Times.

The Bubble Act, 6 George I., cap. 18; published 1719, and repealed July 5th, 1825. Its object was to punish the promoters of bubble schemes.

A bubble company. A company whose object is to enrich themselves at the expense of subscribers to their scheme.

A bubble scheme. A project for getting money from subscribers to a scheme of no value.

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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.