noun
1.
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, especially at the end of a cylindrical object: the bulb of a thermometer.
3.
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.
Origin:
1560–70; < Latin bulbus < Greek bolbós onion, bulbous plant
1560–70; < Latin bulbus < Greek bolbós onion, bulbous plant
Related forms
bulbed, adjective
bulb·less, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source
|
Link To bulb
00:10
Bulb
is always a great word to know.
So is jugular. Does it mean:
| pertaining to any of certain large veins of the neck collecting blood from the superficial parts of the head or collecting blood from within the skull |
| a glandular organ functioning in the secretion of bile and metabolic processes such as converting sugars located in the upper right abdominal cavity |
Collins
World English Dictionary
bulb (bʌlb) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —n | |
| 1. | Compare corm a rounded organ of vegetative reproduction in plants such as the tulip and onion: a flattened stem bearing a central shoot surrounded by fleshy nutritive inner leaves and thin brown outer leaves |
| 2. | a plant, such as a hyacinth or daffodil, that grows from a bulb |
| 3. | See light bulb |
| 4. | a rounded part of an instrument such as a syringe or thermometer |
| 5. | anatomy a rounded expansion of a cylindrical organ or part, such as the medulla oblongata |
| 6. | Also called: bulbous bow a bulbous protuberance at the forefoot of a ship to reduce turbulence |
| [C16: from Latin bulbus, from Greek bolbos onion] | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
bulb
1560s, "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.).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Cite This Source
American Heritage
Medical Dictionary
bulb (bŭlb)
n.
A globular or fusiform anatomical structure or enlargement.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Cite This Source
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Cite This Source
American Heritage
Science Dictionary
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. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Example sentences
The same applies to as simple a thing as a light bulb.
He simply rehashed the tired joke about the light bulb and how many are needed to turn it.
Each bulb produces a clump of about five or six shallots, so that a pint of shallots planted may yield as much as three quarts.
Every spring bulb is a perfect package, containing everything necessary for a splendid spring flower show.
Images for bulb
Matching Quote
Nearby Words
Copyright © 2013 Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.
