An apparatus carried by a diver, which includes a tank holding compressed, filtered air and a regulator which delivers the air to the diver at ambient pressure which can be used underwater.
"The scuba allowed the diver to breathe freely while exploring the coral reef deep below the surface."
In plain English: Scuba is short for self-contained underwater breathing apparatus, which refers to the gear that lets you breathe while swimming deep under water.
"He lost his scuba and had to swim back up quickly without any air supply."
Usage: Use scuba as an adjective before nouns like gear or diving rather than as a standalone noun. Avoid saying "I went for a scuba" when you mean using the equipment itself; instead say I went scuba diving.
To perform scuba diving.
"The team will scuba tomorrow to explore the sunken shipwreck."
Scuba originated from the English acronym self-contained underwater breathing apparatus used to describe a specific type of diving gear. Although it began as an abbreviation for these technical devices, the word has since evolved into common usage where its original acronyms are rarely recognized by speakers.