bulb
/ˈbʌlb/
bulb noun: the bulb-shaped underground portion of a plant such as a tulip, consisting of a shortened stem and many fleshy scale leaves, from which the rest of the plant may be regrown.
Noun
bulb (plural bulbs)
- The bulb-shaped underground portion of a plant such as a tulip, consisting of a shortened stem and many fleshy scale leaves, from which the rest of the plant may be regrown.
- the plants which grow in the earth from seed or bulbs.2005, Plato, translated by Lesley Brown, Sophist, page 265c
- Once it [a snowdrop variety] became established, some bulbs were lifted and passed on to be chipped (i.e. cut into small pieces and grown on).2015 February 7, Val Bourne, “The quiet man of the world of snowdrops”, in The Daily Telegraph (London), page G8
- The medulla oblongata.
- 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
- A light bulb (not necessarily bulbous in shape).
- an incandescent bulb
- an LED bulb
- A bulbous protuberance at the forefoot of certain vessels to reduce turbulence.
- An onion.
Verb
bulb (third-person singular simple present bulbs, present participle bulbing, simple past and past participle bulbed)
- To take the shape of a bulb; to swell.
bulb meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
bulb in Hindi
- bulb
- कंद kand, गट्ठा gaṭṭhā
bulb in Tamil
- குமிழ்விளக்கு, விளக்கு, தண்டிலை
bulb in Marathi
- बल्ब, बल्बला
bulb in Urdu
- bulb
- کاندا kāndā
More languagesFewer languages
- bulb in Bengali
- বাল্ব, কন্দ
- bulb in Telugu
- బల్బ్, బల్బు
- bulb in Malayalam
- ബൾബ് baḷbŭ, കിഴങ്ങ് kiḻaṅṅŭ
- bulb in Kannada
- ಗಡ್ಡೆ, ಕಂದ, ಬಲ್ಬು, ಬುರುಡೆ
- bulb in Punjabi
- گنڈھا ganḍhā, ਗੰਢਾ gaṇḍhā, ਗਠਾ gaṭhā, گٹھا gaṭhā
- bulb in Odia
- କନ୍ଦ, ବଲ୍ବ, ବଲ୍ବ୍
- bulb in Sanskrit
- कन्द kanda
- bulb in Nepali
- बल्ब
- bulb in Malay
- bebawang
- bulb in Indonesian
- umbi lapis
- bulb in Persian
- پیاز piyâz
Examples of bulb in a sentence
- The bulb is gone. Can you put a new one in?
- He gave his daughter some hyacinth bulbs with the caveat that she plant them in the shade.
- Ernst slipped and dropped his torch on the flagstones, shattering the bulb and plunging us into darkness.
Forms of bulb
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | bulbs |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | bulbs |
| present participle | bulbing |
| past participle | bulbed |
| past | bulbed |
Origin of bulb
Inherited from Middle English bulb, bolbe, from Latin bulbus (“bulb, onion”), from Ancient Greek βολβός (bolbós, “plant with round swelling on underground stem”).
Words formed from bulb
- bulbar
- bulb condenser
- bulbectomy
- bulbhead
- bulbheaded
- bulb horn
- bulbitis
- bulbless
- bulblet
- bulblike
- bulboid
- bulbophile
- bulb-out
- bulb tee
- bulby
- bus bulb
- curb bulb
- dim-bulb
- dim bulb
- dry bulb temperature
- dry-bulb temperature
- Edison bulb
- endbulb
- flashbulb
- gliobulb
- hair bulb
- hemibulb
- hot bulb
- lamp-bulb
- lamp bulb
- light bulb
- Mandelbulb
- not the brightest bulb
- not the brightest bulb in the chandelier
- pseudobulb
- rebulb
- tulip bulb
- urethral bulb
- wet-and-dry-bulb hygrometer
- wet bulb
- wet-bulb
- wet bulbing
- wet-bulb temperature
- wet bulb temperature
Phrases with bulb
Questions about bulb
- What does bulb mean?
- Bulb means the bulb-shaped underground portion of a plant such as a tulip, consisting of a shortened stem and many fleshy scale leaves, from which the rest of the plant may be regrown.
- What is bulb in Hindi?
- Bulb in Hindi is कंद (kand), गट्ठा (gaṭṭhā). See Bulb meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is bulb?
- Bulb can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce bulb?
- Bulb is pronounced /ˈbʌlb/.
- What is the plural of bulb?
- The plural of bulb is bulbs.
Words near bulb in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: bulb (page history and authors); कंद (Hindi) (page history and authors); bulb (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); bulb (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); کاندا (Urdu) (page history and authors); bulb (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); bulb (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); bulb (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); گنڈھا (Punjabi) (page history and authors); bulb (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); bulb (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-bulb.ogg.
Cite this entry: “bulb.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/bulb. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.