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Definition of bulb noun from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

bulb

noun
 
/bʌlb/
 
/bʌlb/
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  1. (also light bulb)
    the glass part that fits into an electric lamp, etc. to give light when it is switched on
    • a halogen bulb
    • a room lit by bare bulbs (= with no decorative cover)
    Extra Examples
    • Can you remove the bulb and replace it with an energy-efficient one?
    • Can you take out the clear bulb and put a pearl one in?
    • Coloured bulbs flashed on and off around the sign.
    • I think the bulb is going to go. It's been flickering all evening.
    • Switch the light off before you change the bulb.
    • The fitting in the kitchen takes a fluorescent bulb.
    • These low-energy bulbs last much longer than the ordinary ones.
    • They sat reading by the light of a 40-watt bulb.
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective
    • electric
    • light
    • 100-watt
    verb + bulb
    • change
    • replace
    • remove
    bulb + verb
    • light something
    • go
    • flicker
    See full entry
  2. the round underground part of some plants, like an onion in shape, that grows into a new plant every year
    • the bulb fields of Holland
    Extra Examples
    • These daffodils flower so early because the bulbs have been forced.
    • She usually waters the indoor bulbs once a week.
    • Place the bulbs close together.
    • I'm planting some bulbs for next year.
    • Get the bulbs into the ground, or they will begin to shrivel.
    Topics Plants and treesc1
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective
    • flower
    • spring
    • spring-flowering
    verb + bulb
    • place
    • plant
    • dig up
    bulb + verb
    • grow
    • flower
    • sprout
    See full entry
  3. an object that is like a bulb in shape, for example the end of a thermometer
  4. Word Originlate Middle English: via Latin from Greek bolbos ‘onion, bulbous root’.
See bulb in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee bulb in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic English

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