lion cub vs cub

lion cub and cub both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
lion cub	Yes	No	No	No
cub	Yes	No	Yes	No

As nouns, cub is a hypernym of lion cub; that is, cub is a word with a broader meaning than lion cub:

lion cub: a young lion
cub: the young of certain carnivorous mammals such as the bear or wolf or lion

Other hypernyms of lion cub include young carnivore, king of beasts, lion, Panthera leo.

lion cub (noun)	cub (noun)
a young lion	the young of certain carnivorous mammals such as the bear or wolf or lion
	a male child (a familiar term of address to a boy)
	an awkward and inexperienced youth

lion cub (verb)	cub (verb)
	give birth to cubs