bulbar

American  

[buhl-ber, -bahr] / ˈbʌl bər, -bɑr /

adjective

1. of or relating to a bulb, especially to the medulla oblongata.

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bulbar British  

/ ˈbʌlbə /

adjective

1. anatomy of or relating to a bulb, esp the medulla oblongata

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Other Word Forms

• nonbulbar adjective
• postbulbar adjective

Etymology

Origin of bulbar

First recorded in 1875–80; bulb + -ar ¹

Example Sentences

A condition of the disease called bulbar palsy slowed his tongue to the point his words wobbled enough that he sounded as if he were drunk.

From Slate • Feb. 4, 2025

His legal career was cut short, however, by a bout with bulbar polio, which left part of his face paralyzed.

From New York Times • Jan. 25, 2023

Last year researchers revealed a similar process in two much rarer inherited diseases: fragile X syndrome, a form of mental retardation; and spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy, a wasting disease.

From Time Magazine Archive

Understandably, physicians have mistaken these disorders for signs of epilepsy, tetanus, bulbar polio and encephalitis.

From Time Magazine Archive

It is more likely that their action is confined to the lower centres, bulbar and spinal, upon which the discharge excited from the cortex plays.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Slice 4 "Bradford, William" to "Brequigny, Louis" by Various