bladder

English

Alternative forms

• blather, blether (Scotland)

Etymology

From Middle English bladdre, bleddre, bladder, bledder, from Old English blæddre, a variant of blǣdre, blēdre (“blister, bladder”), from Proto-West Germanic *blādrā, from Proto-Germanic *blēdrǭ, *bladrǭ (“blister, bladder”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈblædə/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈblædɚ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ædə(ɹ)

Noun

bladder (plural bladders)

Explainer video about the human urinary bladder

1. (zoology) A flexible sac that can expand and contract and that holds liquids or gases.

   Synonym: vesica

2. (anatomy) Specifically, the urinary bladder.

   Synonym: vesica

3. (botany) A hollow, inflatable organ of a plant.
4. The inflatable bag inside various balls used in sports, such as footballs and rugby balls.
5. A sealed plastic bag that contains wine and is usually packaged in a cask.
6. (figurative) Anything inflated, empty, or unsound.
   • 1711, Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury, “Sensus Communis”, in Characteristicks of Men, Manners, Opinions, Times:

     to swim with bladders of philosophy

Hypernyms

• urogenital sinus - embryological precursor

Derived terms

• air bladder
• bald as a bladder of lard
• bashful bladder
• bladderball
• bladder campion
• bladder cancer
• bladder cherry
• bladder cicada
• bladder desperation
• bladdered
• bladderet
• bladder fern
• bladderful
• bladder infection
• bladderless
• bladderlike
• bladdernut
• bladderpod
• bladder senna
• bladderworm
• bladder worm
• bladderwort
• bladder wrack
• bladderwrack
• bladdery
• cackle bladder
• cackle-bladder
• gallbladder
• gall bladder
• gas bladder
• megabladder
• neobladder
• nonbladder
• overactive bladder
• painful bladder syndrome
• shy bladder
• swim-bladder
• swim bladder
• urinary bladder

 

Translations

flexible sac in zoology

• Arabic: حُوَيْصِلَة f (ḥuwayṣila)

  Egyptian Arabic: مثانة f (masāna)

• Asturian: vexiga (ast) f
• Belarusian: бу́рбалка f (búrbalka), пузы́р m (puzýr)
• Bulgarian: мехур (bg) m (mehur), торбичка (bg) f (torbička)
• Catalan: bufeta (ca) f, veixiga (ca) f
• Czech: měchýř (cs) m
• Danish: blære (da) c
• Dhivehi: މަސާނާ (masānā)
• Dutch: blaas (nl) f
• Esperanto: veziko (eo)
• Estonian: põis
• Finnish: rakko (fi)
• French: vésicule (fr) f
• Friulian: vissie f
• Galician: vexiga (gl) f
• German: Blase (de) f
• Greek:

  Ancient: κύστις f (kústis)

• Hebrew: שַׁלְפּוּחִית (he) f (shalpuẖít)
• Hungarian: hólyag (hu)
• Ingrian: rakko
• Irish: lamhnán m
• Italian: vescica (it) f
• Japanese: 嚢状組織, 嚢 (ja)
• Kabuverdianu: bixiga
• Khmer: ផ្លោក (phlaok)
• Korean: 부레 (ko) (bure)
• Latin: vēsīca f
• Low German: Blaas f
• Maori: tōngāmimi
• Occitan: bofiga (oc) f, vessiga (oc) f
• Persian: آبدان (fa) (ābdān)
• Polish: pęcherz (pl) m
• Portuguese: bexiga (pt) f
• Romanian: vezică (ro) f, bășică (ro) f
• Russian: пузы́рь (ru) m (puzýrʹ)
• Scottish Gaelic: balg m
• Slovak: mechúr (sk) m
• Spanish: vejiga (es) f
• Sudovian: dumsle f
• Swedish: blåsa (sv)
• Ukrainian: міху́р m (mixúr)
• Walloon: vexheye (wa) f

urinary bladder — see urinary bladder

hollow inflatable organ in botany

• Bulgarian: мехур (bg) m (mehur)
• Chinese: 氣囊 / 气囊 (zh) (qìnáng)
• Finnish: rakko (fi)
• French: vésicule (fr) f
• German: Blase (de) f
• Scottish Gaelic: balg m

inflatable bag inside a ball

• Bulgarian: плондир m (plondir)
• Chinese: 球膽 / 球胆 (zh) (qiúdǎn)
• Czech: duše (cs) f
• Finnish: rakko (fi)
• French: vessie (fr) f
• German: Blase (de) f
• Greek: σαμπρέλα (el) f (sampréla)
• Russian: ка́мера (ru) f (kámera)
• Scottish Gaelic: balg m

sealed plastic wine bag

• French: cubi (fr) m
• Spanish: cubi m, barrica plástica f, bota (es) f

Verb

bladder (third-person singular simple present bladders, present participle bladdering, simple past and past participle bladdered)

1. To swell out like a bladder with air; to inflate.
   • 1610, Giles Fletcher, Christ's Victorie and Triumph, in Heaven, in Earth, over and after Death:

     bladder'd up with pride of his own mcrit

2. (transitive) To store or put up in bladders.

   bladdered lard

Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch blader: see blaar.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈblɑ.dər/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: blad‧der
• Rhymes: -ɑdər

Noun

bladder f or m (plural bladders, diminutive bladdertje n)

1. blister, particularly of paint

Middle English

Noun

bladder

1. Alternative form of bladdre