bulbousadj.
/ˈbʌlbəs/, U.S. /ˈbəlbəs/ 1. Of, pertaining to, or of the nature of, a bulb.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > part of plant > bulb > [adjective]
bulbous1578
bulbose1748
1578 H. Lyte tr. R. Dodoens Niewe Herball liv. 215 The roote is white and bulbus.
1578 H. Lyte tr. R. Dodoens Niewe Herball liv. 216 White bulbus violet.
1600 R. Surflet tr. C. Estienne & J. Liébault Maison Rustique ii. xlii. 273 A bulbous and whitish roote, of a sharpe taste.
1719 G. London & H. Wise J. de la Quintinie's Compl. Gard'ner (ed. 7) ix. 298 The Bulbous Roots of Flowers must now be put into the Earth again.
1807 J. E. Smith Introd. Physiol. & Systematical Bot. 113 Fleshy roots, whether of a tuberous or bulbous nature, must..powerfully resist drought.
2. Having bulbous or bulb-like roots.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > part of plant > bulb > [adjective] > having or not having bulbs
bulbous1578
bulbous-rooted1611
bulbaceous1731
bulbose-rooted1748
bulbiferous1806
bulbed1858
bulby1880
bulbless1883
1578 H. Lyte tr. R. Dodoens Niewe Herball ii. xl. 198 Bulbosa Iris..We may call it Bulbus Ireos in English.
1610 W. Folkingham Feudigraphia i. viii. 18 The little white bulbous Crow-toes.
1861 A. Pratt Flowering Plants & Ferns Great Brit. III. 91 It has several rustic names as Glory-less, Bulbous Fumitory.
1879 A. R. Wallace Australasia iii. 43 Lovely bulbous plants.
3. Bulb-shaped; swollen.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > curvature > curved three-dimensional shape or body > [adjective] > spherical or globular
roundc1300
orbicular?1440
spherical1523
spheral1571
globous1591
globy1595
bulbed1597
orbed1598
sphery1600
spheric1610
globical1612
rotundious1614
globular1626
globed1633
global1637
globose1667
spheriform1678
globosous1681
globar1699
bulbous1783
ball-shaped1802
globate1806
perispheric1828
bulb-like1836
balloon-shaped1839
bulbiform1849
globuloid1889
1783 T. Hutchins in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 73 320 As much quicksilver..as..just filled the bulbous part of the cylinder.
1807 R. Southey Lett. from Eng. II. xliv. 262 A..fellow, with a bottle belly and a bulbous nose.
1835–6 Todd's Cycl. Anat. & Physiol. I. 635/2 The cilia were bulbous at the root.
1848 W. Irving Hist. N.Y. (rev. ed.) ii. iii. 99 The worthy in question, was a burly, bulbous man.
1866 Cornhill Mag. Dec. 760 The bulbous minarets of Garben's new Kursaal.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > covering > a layer > [adjective] > concentric
bulbous1677
1677 R. Plot Nat. Hist. Oxford-shire 55 The Earth is here..I think I may say of a bulbous nature, several folds of divers colours.
Compounds
C1. General attributive.
bulbous-rooted adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > part of plant > bulb > [adjective] > having or not having bulbs
bulbous1578
bulbous-rooted1611
bulbaceous1731
bulbose-rooted1748
bulbiferous1806
bulbed1858
bulby1880
bulbless1883
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Satyrion,..Bulbus-rooted..hearbs.
1807 J. E. Smith Introd. Physiol. & Systematical Bot. 41 Bulbous-rooted grasses.
C2.
bulbous-headed adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > external parts of body > head > types of head > [adjective] > having
headedOE
cop-headed1519
small-headedc1540
jolt-headed1552
chuff-headed1563
ass-headed1584
two-headed1596
golden-headed1598
hard-headed1601
big-headed1614
bicipitous1646
buffle-headed1654
female-headed1655
heavy-headed1684
bullet-headed1699
jolter-headed1748
pinheaded1771
pigheaded1774
thin-headed1804
roundhead1842
bulbous-headed1860
blob-headed1865
occipital1873
fat-headed1883
mesopic1885
peanut-headed1906
dome-headed1910
1860 N. Hawthorne Transformation III. xvi. 261 He looked at each..bulbous-headed monster.
bulbous-shoed adj. (humorous).
ΚΠ
1853 C. Dickens Bleak House i. 3 Blue-nosed, bulbous-shoed old benchers.
Draft additions March 2008
bulbous buttercup n. a buttercup, Ranunculus bulbosus, native to western Europe, which has a distinctive bulb-shaped root structure and yellow flowers, and occurs as a perennial weed of grassland.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > particular flower or plant esteemed for flower > [noun] > buttercup and allied flowers > buttercup
butterflower1527
kingcup1538
crow-flower1597
king-cob1597
gilt cup1610
pissabed1640
Goldilocks1650
craysec1652
buttercup1688
yellow cup1824
bulbous buttercup1844
goldballs1854
Meg-many-feet1878
clovewort1886
sitfast1901
1844 H. Stephens Bk. of Farm III. 918 It is believed that the leaves of the bulbous buttercup, Ranunculus bulbosus, is pernicious to the milk, but there is no sufficient foundation for the assertion, as cows will not eat the plant.
1903 A. D. Hall Soil x. 253 The bulbous buttercup (Ranunculus bulbosus) is very frequent on dry pastures, whether sandy or chalky.
1945 J. M. Fogg Weeds of Lawn & Garden 6 A corm, which is exemplified by Bulbous Buttercup, resembles a bulb but lacks the scales of which a bulb is composed.
2003 Times (Nexis) 6 May (Features section) 30 Most of these early buttercups are bulbous buttercups, which can be distinguished by the way the green sepals hang beneath the flowers.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1888; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
<
adj.1578