air bladder

See more synonyms for air bladder on Thesaurus.com

noun

a vesicle or sac containing air.
Also called gas bladder, swim bladder. Ichthyology. a gas-filled sac located against the roof of the body cavity of most bony fishes, originally functioning only as a lung, now serving in many higher fishes to regulate hydrostatic pressure.

Origin of air bladder

First recorded in 1725–35

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for air bladder

float

Examples from the Web for air bladder

Historical Examples of air bladder

I believe he is rising now from some management of the air-bladder.
Jack at Sea
George Manville Fenn
The air-bladder large and strong, and in some cases notched on the margin.
The Ocean World:
Louis Figuier
But the primal purpose of the air-bladder was not to serve as a float.
A Guide to the Study of Fishes, Volume 1 (of 2)
David Starr Jordan
In the sharks, rays, and chimæras there is no trace of an air-bladder.
A Guide to the Study of Fishes, Volume 1 (of 2)
David Starr Jordan
The elasticity of the air enables fishes to rise and sink in water, through the action of the air-bladder.
Atlantic Monthly Vol. 6, No. 33, July, 1860
Various

British Dictionary definitions for air bladder

air bladder

noun

Also called: swim bladder ichthyol an air-filled sac, lying above the alimentary canal in bony fishes, that regulates buoyancy at different depths by a variation in the pressure of the air
any air-filled sac, such as one of the bladders of seaweeds

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

air bladder in Science

air bladder

An air-filled sac in many fish that helps maintain buoyancy or, in some species, helps in respiration, sound production, or hearing. Also called swim bladder
See float.