bladder

[blad-er] /ˈblæd ər/
noun
1.
Anatomy, Zoology.
  1. a membranous sac or organ serving as a receptacle for a fluid or air.
  2. urinary bladder.
2.
Pathology. a vesicle, blister, cyst, etc., filled with fluid or air.
3.
Botany. an air-filled sac or float, as in certain seaweeds.
4.
something resembling a bladder, as the inflatable lining of a football or basketball.
5.
an air-filled sac, usually made to resemble a club, used for beatings in low comedy, vaudeville, or the like.
Origin
before 900; Middle English; Old English blǣddre, blǣdre bladder, blister, pimple; cognate with Old Norse blāthra, dialectal Dutch bladder, German Blatter; akin to blow2
Related forms
bladderless, adjective
bladderlike, adjective
Examples from the web for bladder
  • The new bladder is nurtured in an incubator that mimics body conditions, allowing the cells to grow and knit together.
  • Look no further than your fireplace and, er, your bladder.
  • The first two sounds are produced by muscles contracting around the fish's swim bladder.
  • In this particular instance, they wanted to teach a computer to recognize bladder cancer cells in a urine sample.
  • Some have suggested that statins interfere with cancer treatment with bladder cancer patients as well.
  • For the past four years her sniffer dogs have been diagnosing bladder cancer.
  • Although it is still early days, attempts are even being made to model the pancreas, bladder and kidney.
  • The ureters are the two tubes which convey the urine from the kidneys to the urinary bladder.
  • The sigmoid colon lies between the rectum and the bladder.
  • Thus its anterior part, known as the vesical layer, forms the anterior and lateral ligaments of the bladder.
British Dictionary definitions for bladder

bladder

/ˈblædə/
noun
1.
(anatomy) a distensible membranous sac, usually containing liquid or gas, esp the urinary bladder related adjective vesical
2.
an inflatable part of something
3.
a blister, cyst, vesicle, etc, usually filled with fluid
4.
a hollow vesicular or saclike part or organ in certain plants, such as the bladderwort or bladderwrack
Derived Forms
bladdery, adjective
Word Origin
Old English blǣdre
Word Origin and History for bladder
n.

Old English blædre (West Saxon), bledre (Anglian) "(urinary) bladder," also "blister, pimple," from Proto-Germanic *blaedron (cf. Old Norse blaðra, Old Saxon bladara, Old High German blattara, German Blatter, Dutch blaar), from PIE *bhle- "to blow" (see blast). Extended senses from early 13c. from animal bladders used for buoyancy, storage, etc.

bladder in Medicine

bladder blad·der (blād'ər)
n.

  1. Any of various distensible membranous sacs, such as the urinary bladder, that serve as receptacles for fluid or gas.

  2. A blister, pustule, or cyst filled with fluid or air; vesicle.

bladder in Science
bladder
  (blād'ər)   

  1. A sac-shaped muscular organ that stores the urine secreted by the kidneys, found in all vertebrates except birds and the monotremes. In mammals, urine is carried from the kidneys to the bladder by the ureters and is later discharged from the body through the urethra.

  2. An air bladder.


bladder in Culture

bladder definition


A stretchable saclike structure in the body that holds fluids. The term is used most often to refer to the urinary bladder, which is part of the excretory system. Another kind of bladder is the gallbladder.