bulb

plural bulbs

1. 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

   1 more example

   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

2. datedanatomyThe medulla oblongata.
3. 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

   1. A light bulb (not necessarily bulbous in shape).

      an LED bulb

      2 more examples

      an incandescent bulb

      a fluorescent tube bulb

4. nauticalA bulbous protuberance at the forefoot of certain vessels to reduce turbulence.
5. obsoleteAn onion.

present singular third person bulbs · participle present bulbing · participle past bulbed · past bulbed

1. intransitiveTo take the shape of a bulb; to swell.