| Bladder | n. [ OE. bladder, bleddre, AS. bl&aemacr_;dre, bl&aemacr_;ddre; akin to Icel. blaðra, SW. bläddra, Dan. blære, D. blaar, OHG. blātara the bladder in the body of animals, G. blatter blister, bustule; all fr. the same root as AS. blāwan, E. blow, to puff. See Blow to puff. ] [ 1913 Webster ] 1. (Anat.) A bag or sac in animals, which serves as the receptacle of some fluid; as, the urinary bladder; the gall bladder; -- applied especially to the urinary bladder, either within the animal, or when taken out and inflated with air. [ 1913 Webster ] 2. Any vesicle or blister, especially if filled with air, or a thin, watery fluid. [ 1913 Webster ] 3. (Bot.) A distended, membranaceous pericarp. [ 1913 Webster ] 4. Anything inflated, empty, or unsound. “To swim with bladders of philosophy.” Rochester. [ 1913 Webster ]
Bladder nut, or
Bladder tree (Bot.), a genus of plants (Staphylea) with bladderlike seed pods. --
Bladder pod (Bot.), a genus of low herbs (Vesicaria) with inflated seed pods. --
Bladdor senna (Bot.), a genus of shrubs (Colutea), with membranaceous, inflated pods. --
Bladder worm (Zool.), the larva of any species of tapeworm (Tænia), found in the flesh or other parts of animals. See Measle, Cysticercus. --
Bladder wrack (Bot.), the common black rock weed of the seacoast (Fucus nodosus and Fucus vesiculosus) -- called also bladder tangle. See Wrack. [ 1913 Webster ]
|
