bulb

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English[edit]

Flowers growing from a bulb (lower left).

Etymology[edit]

From Middle French bulbe, from Latin bulbus (“bulb, onion”), from Ancient Greek βολβός (bolbos, “plant with round swelling on underground stem”).

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

bulb (plural bulbs)

  1. Any solid object rounded at one end and tapering on the other, possibly attached to a larger object at the tapered end.
    the bulb of the aorta
  2. A light bulb.
  3. The bulb-shaped root portion of a plant such as a tulip, from which the rest of the plant may be regrown.
    • 2005, Plato, Sophist. Translation by Lesley Brown. 265c.
      the plants which grow in the earth from seed or bulbs.
  4. (nautical) a bulbous protuberance at the forefoot of certain vessels to reduce turbulence.

Related terms[edit]

terms related to bulb

Derived terms[edit]

terms derived from bulb

Translations[edit]

rounded solid object
light bulb — see light bulb
bulb-shaped root
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Verb[edit]

bulb (third-person singular simple present bulbs, present participle bulbing, simple past and past participle bulbed)

  1. (intransitive) To take the shape of a bulb; to swell.

Anagrams[edit]

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