What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

Bulb vs Spherical - What's the difference?

bulb | spherical |

As a noun bulb

is any solid object rounded at one end and tapering on the other, possibly attached to a larger object at the tapered end.

As a verb bulb

is to take the shape of a bulb; to swell.

As an adjective spherical is

(label) shaped like a sphere.

bulb

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • Any solid object rounded at one end and tapering on the other, possibly attached to a larger object at the tapered end.
  • the bulb of the aorta
  • A light bulb.
  • The bulb-shaped root portion of a plant such as a tulip, from which the rest of the plant may be regrown.
  • * 2005 , (Plato), Sophist . Translation by Lesley Brown. .
  • the plants which grow in the earth from seed or bulbs .
  • *
  • (nautical) a bulbous protuberance at the forefoot of certain vessels to reduce turbulence.
  • Derived terms

    * lampbulb * light bulb * flash bulb * tulip bulb

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To take the shape of a bulb; to swell.
  • Anagrams

    *

    spherical

    English

    Alternative forms

    * (archaic)

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • (label) Shaped like a sphere.
  • *{{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=September-October, author=(Henry Petroski)
  • , magazine=(American Scientist), title= The Evolution of Eyeglasses , passage=The ability of a segment of a glass sphere to magnify whatever is placed before it was known around the year 1000, when the spherical segment was called a reading stone, essentially what today we might term a frameless magnifying glass or plain glass paperweight.}}
  • (label) (no comparative or superlative ) Of, or pertaining to, spheres.
  • (label) Of a coordinate system, specifying the location of a point in a plane by using a radius and two angles.
  • (label) Of or relating to the heavenly orbs, or to the sphere or spheres in which, according to ancient astronomy and astrology, they were set.
  • *1606 : (William Shakespeare), (King Lear) , Act 1, Scene 2
  • Knaves, thieves, and treachers by spherical predominance.

    Synonyms

    * (shaped like a sphere) globular, orbicular, round

    Derived terms

    * spherical aberration * spherical angle * spherical cap * spherical distance * spherical geometry * sphericality * spherical lune * spherical sector * spherical segment * spherical triangle * spherical trigonometry * spherical wedge * sphericity