cubby

What Is Cubby Short For? cub·bies. A small room; a cubbyhole. [Short for cubbyhole.] Where did the word Cubby come from? Etymology. Possibly from the term “cub” in old English related to “stall, pen, cattle shed, coop, hutch”. “Cubby-hole” is sometimes written as one word (cubbyhole). Why is it called a cubby hole? From the