bolus

B3O1L1U1S1
/ˈbəʊləs/

noun

A round mass of something, especially of chewed food in the mouth or alimentary canal.

OriginLate Latin bōlus ← Ancient Greek βῶλος →
Less commonScrabble 7
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Meanings

nounbolus (plural boluses or (nonstandard) boli)

plural boluses · nonstandard plural boli

  1. A round mass of something, especially of chewed food in the mouth or alimentary canal.
  2. A single, large dose of a drug, especially one in that form.

    I gave him a bolus, twice the size of a gooseberry.

    1863, Sheridan Le Fanu, The House by the Churchyard
verbbolus (third-person singular simple present boluses, present participle bolusing, simple past and past participle bolused)

present singular third person boluses · participle present bolusing · participle past bolused · past bolused

  1. transitiveTo administer (a drug) in bolus dosing, that is, dosing in (one or more) boluses.
  2. intransitiveTo take a bolus (dose) of insulin at a mealtime in order to control one's blood glucose level in diabetes.

Origin

  1. Ancient Greekβῶλος“clod, lump”
  2. Late Latinbōlus“clod of earth, lump”
  3. Englishbolus

From Late Latin bōlus (“clod of earth, lump”), plural bōlī, from Ancient Greek βῶλος (bôlos, “clod, lump”). Doublet of bole.

More words from Late Latin, Ancient Greek

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Finnish pallero
  • palleroround mass of food
French bol, bol alimentaire
  • bolround mass of food
  • bol alimentaireround mass of food
Hungarian falat
  • falatround mass of food
Italian bolo
  • boloround mass of food
Polish kęs, dawka
  • kęsround mass of food
  • dawkalarge dose of a drug
Portuguese bolo, bólus
  • boloround mass of food
  • bóluslarge dose of a drug
Spanish bolo alimenticio, bolo
  • bolo alimenticioround mass of food
  • bololarge dose of a drug

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with bolus

gladiolusbolasdolus
All rhymes →

Anagrams

lobusLoubs
Cite this entry
APA

bolus. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bolus

MLA

“bolus.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bolus. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “bolus,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bolus.

Source: bolus on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.