Chapter Bugaboo to Bull of B by Webster's Dictionary (1913 Edition)

1. (Bot.) A spheroidal body growing from a plant either above or below the ground which is strictly a bud, consisting of a cluster of partially developed leaves, and producing, as it grows, a stem above, and roots below, as in the onion, tulip, etc. It differs from a corm in not being solid.

2. (Anat.) A name given to some parts that resemble in shape certain bulbous roots; as, the bulb of the aorta.

Bulb of the eye, the eyeball. — Bulb of a hair, the "root," or part whence the hair originates. — Bulb of the spinal cord, the medulla oblongata, often called simply bulb. — Bulb of a tooth, the vascular and nervous papilla contained in the cavity of the tooth.

3. An expansion or protuberance on a stem or tube, as the bulb of a thermometer, which may be of any form, as spherical, cylindrical, curved, etc. Tomlinson.

Bulb
(Bulb), v. i. To take the shape of a bulb; to swell.

Bulbaceous
(Bul*ba"ceous) a. [L. bulbaceus. See Bulb, n.] Bulbous. Jonson.

Bulbar
(Bulb"ar) a. Of or pertaining to bulb; especially, in medicine, pertaining to the bulb of the spinal cord, or medulla oblongata; as, bulbar paralysis.

Bulbed
(Bulbed) a. Having a bulb; round- headed.

Bulbel
(Bulb"el) n. [Dim., fr. bulb, n.] (Bot.) A separable bulb formed on some flowering plants.

Bulbiferous
(Bul*bif"er*ous) a. [Bulb,n.+ -ferous: cf. F. bulbifère.] (Bot.) Producing bulbs.

Bulblet
(Bulb"let) n. [Bulb,n.+ -let.] (Bot.) A small bulb, either produced on a larger bulb, or on some aërial part of a plant, as in the axils of leaves in the tiger lily, or replacing the flowers in some kinds of onion.

Bulbose
(Bul*bose") a. Bulbous.

Bulbo-tuber
(Bul"bo-tu`ber) n. [Bulb,n.+ tuber.] (Bot.) A corm.

Bulbous
(Bulb"ous) a. [L. bulbosus: cf. F. bulbeux. See Bulb, n.] Having or containing bulbs, or a bulb; growing from bulbs; bulblike in shape or structure.

Bulbul
(||Bul"bul) n. [Per.] (Zoöl.) The Persian nightingale (Pycnonotus jocosus). The name is also applied to several other Asiatic singing birds, of the family Timaliidæ. The green bulbuls belong to the Chloropsis and allied genera. [Written also buhlbuhl.]

Bulbule
(Bul"bule) n. [L. bulbulus, dim. of bulbus. See Bulb, n.] A small bulb; a bulblet.

Bulchin
(Bul"chin) n. [Dim. of bull.] A little bull.

Bulge
(Bulge) n. [OE. bulge a swelling; cf. AS. belgan to swell, OSw. bulgja, Icel. bolginn swollen, OHG. belgan to swell, G. bulge leathern sack, Skr. bh to be large, strong; the root meaning to swell. Cf. Bilge, Belly, Billow, Bouge, n.]

1. The bilge or protuberant part of a cask.

2. A swelling, protuberant part; a bending outward, esp. when caused by pressure; as, a bulge in a wall.

3. (Naut.) The bilge of a vessel. See Bilge, 2.

Bulge ways. (Naut.) See Bilge ways.