|
Search over 100 encyclopedias and dictionaries: |
Research categories | Follow us on Twitter |
Research categories
View all topics in the newsView all reference sources at Encyclopedia.com |
|||
bulb
bulb / bəlb/ • n. 1. a rounded underground storage organ present in some plants, notably those of the lily family, consisting of a short stem surrounded by fleshy scale leaves or leaf bases and resting over winter. Compare with corm, rhizome. ∎ a plant grown from an organ of this kind. ∎ a similar underground organ such as a corm or a rhizome. 2. an object with a rounded or teardrop shape like a bulb, in particular: ∎ a light bulb. ∎ an expanded part of a glass tube such as that forming the reservoir of a thermometer. ∎ a hollow flexible container with an opening through which the air can be expelled by squeezing, such as that used to fill a syringe. ∎ a spheroidal dilated part at the end of an anatomical structure. |
|
|
Cite this article
"bulb." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "bulb." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-bulb.html "bulb." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-bulb.html |
|
bulb
bulb thickened, fleshy plant bud, usually formed under the surface of the soil, which carries the plant over from one blooming season to another. It may have many fleshy layers (as in the onion and hyacinth) or thin dry scales (as in some lilies)—both of which are highly modified leaves. Many popular outdoor and house plants, such as the tulip and the narcissus, are grown from bulbs, often out of their usual flowering season by forcing (i.e., by exposing them to a cold treatment). Not true bulbs, but often so called, are the corm of the crocus and the gladiolus, the tuber of the dahlia and the potato, and the rhizome of certain irises. All such organs are specialized subterranean stems serving for food and water storage and asexual reproduction.
|
|
|
Cite this article
"bulb." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "bulb." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-bulb.html "bulb." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-bulb.html |
|
bulb
bulb An underground plant organ that enables a plant to survive from one growing season to the next. It is a modified shoot with a short flattened stem. A terminal bud develops at the centre of its upper surface, surrounded by swollen leaf bases that contain food stored from the previous growing season. Papery brown scale leaves cover the outside of the bulb. The stored food is used in the growing season when the terminal bud produces foliage leaves and flowers. The new leaves photosynthesize and some of the manufactured food passes into the leaf bases forming a new bulb (see illustration). If more than one bud develops, then additional bulbs form, resulting in vegetative propagation. Examples of bulb-forming plants are daffodil, onion, and tulip. Compare corm.
|
|
|
Cite this article
"bulb." A Dictionary of Biology. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "bulb." A Dictionary of Biology. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O6-bulb.html "bulb." A Dictionary of Biology. 2004. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O6-bulb.html |
|
bulb
bulb In botany, a food storage organ consisting of a short stem and swollen scale leaves. Food is stored in the scales, which are either layered in a series of rings, as in the onion, or loosely attached to the stem, as in some lilies. Small buds between the scale leaves give rise to new shoots each year. New bulbs are produced in the axils of the outer scale leaves. See also asexual reproduction
|
|
|
Cite this article
"bulb." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "bulb." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-bulb.html "bulb." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-bulb.html |
|
bulb
bulb An underground storage organ, comprising a short, flattened stem with roots on its lower surface, and above it fleshy leaves or leaf bases, surrounded by protective scale leaves. It may provide the means for vegetative reproduction, or for the survival of the plant from one season to the next.
|
|
|
Cite this article
MICHAEL ALLABY. "bulb." A Dictionary of Plant Sciences. 1998. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. MICHAEL ALLABY. "bulb." A Dictionary of Plant Sciences. 1998. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O7-bulb.html MICHAEL ALLABY. "bulb." A Dictionary of Plant Sciences. 1998. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O7-bulb.html |
|
bulb
bulb †onion XVI; ‘root’ of onion, etc. XVII; roundish dilatation, spec. of a glass tube XVIII. — L. bulbus = Gr. bólbos onion, bulbous root.
Hence bulbous XVI; cf. F. bulbe (XVI), bulbeux. |
|
|
Cite this article
T. F. HOAD. "bulb." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. T. F. HOAD. "bulb." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-bulb.html T. F. HOAD. "bulb." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-bulb.html |
|
bulb
bulb (bulb) n. (in anatomy) any rounded structure or a rounded expansion at the end of an organ or part.
|
|
|
Cite this article
"bulb." A Dictionary of Nursing. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "bulb." A Dictionary of Nursing. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O62-bulb.html "bulb." A Dictionary of Nursing. 2008. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O62-bulb.html |
|
bulb
bulb
•alb • Elbe • stilb • bulb • flashbulb
|
|
|
Cite this article
"bulb." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "bulb." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-bulb.html "bulb." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-bulb.html |
|
Search over 100 encyclopedias and dictionaries:
HighBeam™ Research, Inc. © Copyright 2012. All rights reserved.
The Encyclopedia.com advertising network includes:
