Bulb definition |Dictionary.com

Browse Nearby Entries

bukavu

Bukharin, Nikolai Iv...

bulb

Sponsored Links Halogen Bulb
Wholesale Prices on Halogen Lights! Huge Inventory of Halogen Bulbs.
www.LightBulbsDirect.com

Bulb Halogen
Find more sources/options for Bulb Halogen
webcrawler.com/bulb_halogen

Par20 - MR16 - GU10 - LED
Energy Efficient Lighting Solutions Track lights & downlights - ALL LED
www.lumiabulbs.com

8 dictionary results for: Bulb

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

bulb

[buhlb] Pronunciation Key

–noun

Botany.

a.	a usually subterranean and often globular bud having fleshy leaves emergent at the top and a stem reduced to a flat disk, rooting from the underside, as in the onion and lily.

b.	a plant growing from such a bud.

2.	any round, enlarged part, esp. at the end of a cylindrical object: the bulb of a thermometer.

Electricity.

a.	the glass housing, in which a partial vacuum has been established, that contains the filament of an incandescent electric lamp.

b.	an incandescent or fluorescent electric lamp.

4.	Anatomy. any of various small, bulb-shaped structures or protuberances: olfactory bulb; bulb of urethra.

5.	medulla oblongata.

6.	Building Trades. a rounded thickening at the toe of an angle iron or tee.

7.	Nautical. a cylindrical or spherical prominence at the forefoot of certain vessels.

8.	Photography. a shutter setting in which the shutter remains open as long as the shutter release is depressed. Symbol: B

[Origin: 1560–70; < L bulbus < Gk bolbós onion, bulbous plant

]

—Related forms

bulbed, adjective

bulbless, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

CITE THIS SOURCE|PRINT

Sponsored Links Halogen Bulb
Wholesale Prices on Halogen Lights! Huge Inventory of Halogen Bulbs.
www.LightBulbsDirect.com

Bulb Halogen
Find more sources/options for Bulb Halogen
webcrawler.com/bulb_halogen

Par20 - MR16 - GU10 - LED
Energy Efficient Lighting Solutions Track lights & downlights - ALL LED
www.lumiabulbs.com

American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

bulb (bŭlb) Pronunciation Key
n.

Botany
1. A short, modified, underground stem surrounded by usually fleshy modified leaves that contain stored food for the shoot within: an onion bulb; a tulip bulb.
2. A similar underground stem or root, such as a corm, rhizome, or tuber.
3. A plant that grows from a bulb.
A rounded projection or part: the bulb of a syringe.
An incandescent lamp or its glass housing.
Anatomy A rounded dilation or expansion of a canal, vessel, or organ.

[Latin bulbus, from Greek bolbos, bulbous plant.]

(Download Now or Buy the Book)
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

CITE THIS SOURCE|PRINT

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
bulb

1568, "an onion," from M.Fr. bulbe, from L. bulbus "bulb, onion," from Gk. bolbos "plant with round swelling on underground stem." Expanded by 1800 to "swelling in a glass tube" (thermometer bulb, light bulb, etc.).

CITE THIS SOURCE|PRINT

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

bulb
noun
1.	a modified bud consisting of a thickened globular underground stem serving as a reproductive structure
2.	electric lamp consisting of a transparent or translucent glass housing containing a wire filament (usually tungsten) that emits light when heated by electricity [syn: light bulb]
3.	a rounded part of a cylindrical instrument (usually at one end); "the bulb of a syringe"
4.	anything with a round shape resembling a teardrop
5.	lower or hindmost part of the brain; continuous with spinal cord; ('bulb' is an old term for medulla oblongata); "the medulla oblongata is the most vital part of the brain because it contains centers controlling breathing and heart functioning" [syn: medulla oblongata]
6.	a rounded dilation or expansion in a canal or vessel or organ

CITE THIS SOURCE|PRINT

The American Heritage Science Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

bulb (bŭlb) Pronunciation Key

A rounded underground storage organ that contains the shoot of a new plant. A bulb consists of a short stem surrounded by fleshy scales (modified leaves) that store nourishment for the new plant. Tulips, lilies, and onions grow from bulbs. Compare corm , rhizome , runner , tuber.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

CITE THIS SOURCE|PRINT

American Heritage Stedman's Medical Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

bulb (bŭlb)
n.
A globular or fusiform anatomical structure or enlargement.

CITE THIS SOURCE|PRINT

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Bulb

Bulb\ (b[u^]lb), n. [L. bulbus, Gr. bolbo`s: cf. F. bulbe.]

1. (Bot.) A spheroidal body growing from a plant either above or below the ground (usually below), which is strictly a bud, consisting of a cluster of partially developed leaves, and producing, as it grows, a stem above, and roots below, as in the onion, tulip, etc. It differs from a corm in not being solid.

2. (Anat.) A name given to some parts that resemble in shape certain bulbous roots; as, the bulb of the aorta.

Bulb of the eye, the eyeball.

Bulb of a hair, the "root," or part whence the hair originates.

Bulb of the spinal cord, the medulla oblongata, often called simply bulb.

Bulb of a tooth, the vascular and nervous papilla contained in the cavity of the tooth.

3. An expansion or protuberance on a stem or tube, as the bulb of a thermometer, which may be of any form, as spherical, cylindrical, curved, etc. --Tomlinson.

CITE THIS SOURCE|PRINT

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Bulb

Bulb\, v. i. To take the shape of a bulb; to swell.

CITE THIS SOURCE|PRINT