bulb

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“
The seeming independence of the bulb is a fiction, it has no true existence as a lamp until it expresses itself by giving light.

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Definitions (30)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (6)

  1. noun Botany 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. noun Botany A similar underground stem or root, such as a corm, rhizome, or tuber.
  3. noun Botany A plant that grows from a bulb.
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Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (16)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (2)

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Examples (50)

  • There was the flash of a light-bulb, and at the same instant the woman flung off the bedclothes and hurled herself, with unsuspected energy, at the photographer who had appeared, without a sound, in the doorway. —  Maigret's Failure -#49- by Georges Simenon
  • He guesses the bulb is about forty watts and laughs to himself at cheap Doc Hawthorne. —  F ;SF; - vol 104 issue 02 - February 2003
  • That's like saying a light-bulb is a computer because it uses ac / dc current to turn on and off ... or something: P flag —  ACM TechNews
  • Lifetime for a bulb is estimated at 20,000 hours, and a relatively large amount of power can be pumped through them, allowing a tiny bulb to produce 30,000+ lumens (not something LEDs can do). —  random($foo)
  • Take the bulb of garlic (the bulb is the large thing you buy at the store) remove 4-6 cloves.
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This word has been looked up 133 times.

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Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

lamp ·  lantern ·  tube ·  globe ·  fixture ·  vase ·  plant ·  torch ·  bottle ·  lens ·  pipe ·  wire

Used in the same contextWord Family

bulb:   bulbs

Etymologies (3)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Latin bulbus, from Greek bolbos, bulbous plant.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. from French bulbe, from Latin bulbus, a bulbous root, an onion, from Greek βολβός, a bulbous root.
  2. from bulb, n.
 

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/bəlb/
by American Heritage

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