bubu noun English. A fish trap, ca. 1 m. long, constructed of narrow bamboo slats formed into a tube, ca. 40 cm. thick, having sharpened stakes affixed facing in, such that escape is made difficult, the whole fastened by rattan straps. Example sentence: Subanen. Kamun siselem, pinibaw su gbubu, nda' tanan metaban, bisan salabuuk gulang. English. This morning she went to see if anything was caught in the fishtrap, and nothing was, not even one crawdad. Example sentence: Subanen. Peksungu mekelemu, peguli' mekelegen. Bubu. English. (A riddle) Going ahead is easy, returning is very hard. (Answer) A fishtrap. verb English. Traps fish.