bursa
noun
a pouch, sac, or vesicle, especially a sac containing synovia, to facilitate motion, as between a tendon and a bone.
bursa
1 American
[bur-suh]
/ ˈbɜr sə /
noun
-
bursae,
plural
-
bursas
plural
Bursa
2
American
[boor -sah]
/ burˈsɑ /
noun
bursa
1
British
/ ˈbɜːsə /
noun
-
a small fluid-filled sac that reduces friction between movable parts of the body, esp at joints
-
zoology any saclike cavity or structure
Bursa
2
British
/ ˈbɜːsə /
noun
bursa
Scientific
/ bûr′sə /
-
bursae
plural
bursa
Cultural
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of bursa
First recorded in 1795–1805; from New Latin, Late Latin bursa “bag, pouch, purse,” from Greek býrsa “hide, leather”
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
McVay said a few days later that a bursa sac in Nacua’s knee had burst.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2024
Uninjured tendons in the shoulder frequently degenerate over time after the initial injury, and "the animal data imply that retaining the bursa may prevent or delay progression of this pathology."
From Science Daily ● Apr. 25, 2024
The bursa often becomes inflamed, sometimes concurrently, when underlying tendons are injured, and surgeons often remove the tissue because they suspect it is a source of shoulder inflammation and pain.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 25, 2024
Small fluid-filled sacs called bursa, which normally cushion the joint, may instead swell and ache.
From New York Times ● Dec. 29, 2022
A more radical procedure is to excise, under local anæsthesia, the portion of skin containing the corn and the underlying bursa.
From Manual of Surgery Volume First: General Surgery. Sixth Edition. by Alexis Thomson
The Bursa Malaysia Derivatives contract for November delivery is up 18 ringgit at 4,903 ringgit a ton.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026
The Bursa Malaysia Derivatives contract for November delivery falls 13 ringgit to 4,970 ringgit a ton.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 3, 2026
This softer trading activity is expected to weigh on Bursa Malaysia’s 2H earnings.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
The Bursa Malaysia Derivatives contract for August delivery is 8 ringgit lower at 4,478 ringgit a ton.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 25, 2026
To step into a local market was to miss the savor of the peaches, figs, and winter chestnuts of Bursa.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
Dolphins and other toothed whales, such as the beluga, echolocate via a specialized organ called the dorsal bursae, which sits at the top of their head, close to the blowhole.
From National Geographic ● Feb. 3, 2021
Irradiated chickens with no bursae produced no antibodies when injected with either bovine serum albumin, a protein derived from cattle, or the bacterium Brucella abortus.
From Nature ● Jan. 5, 2015
Two bursae, the subacromial bursa and the subscapular bursa, help to prevent friction between the rotator cuff muscle tendons and the scapula as these tendons cross the glenohumeral joint.
From Textbooks ● Jun. 19, 2013
Subcutaneous bursae prevent friction between the skin and an underlying bone, submuscular bursae protect muscles from rubbing against a bone or another muscle, and a subtendinous bursa prevents friction between bone and a muscle tendon.
From Textbooks ● Jun. 19, 2013
Lack of cloacal bursae in T. ornata and in all testudinids, can be correlated with the completely terrestrial habits of those turtles.
From Natural History of the Ornate Box Turtle, Terrapene ornata ornata Agassiz by John M. Legler
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
