bladder

American  

[blad-er] / ˈblæd ər /

noun

• bladders
  plural

1. Anatomy, Zoology.

   1. a membranous sac or organ serving as a receptacle for a fluid or air.

   2. urinary bladder.

2. Pathology. a vesicle, blister, cyst, etc., filled with fluid or air.

3. Botany. an air-filled sac or float, as in certain seaweeds.

4. something resembling a bladder, as the inflatable lining of a football or basketball.

5. an air-filled sac, usually made to resemble a club, used for beatings in low comedy, vaudeville, or the like.

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bladder British  

/ ˈblædə /

noun

1. anatomy a distensible membranous sac, usually containing liquid or gas, esp the urinary bladder

2. an inflatable part of something

3. a blister, cyst, vesicle, etc, usually filled with fluid

4. a hollow vesicular or saclike part or organ in certain plants, such as the bladderwort or bladderwrack

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bladder Scientific  

/ blăd′ər /

1. A sac-shaped muscular organ that stores the urine secreted by the kidneys, found in all vertebrates except birds and the monotremes. In mammals, urine is carried from the kidneys to the bladder by the ureters and is later discharged from the body through the urethra.

2. An air bladder.

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bladder Cultural  

1. A stretchable saclike structure in the body that holds fluids. The term is used most often to refer to the urinary bladder, which is part of the excretory system. Another kind of bladder is the gallbladder.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• bladderless
  adjective
• bladderlike
  adjective
• bladdery
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• bladders
  plural

Etymology

Origin of bladder

before 900; Middle English; Old English blǣddre, blǣdre bladder, blister, pimple; cognate with Old Norse blāthra, dialectal Dutch bladder, German Blatter; akin to blow ²

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

bladder bladders

Tyra Biosciences and Johnson & Johnson are pursuing their own approaches to treating a common, early-stage form of bladder cancer.

From Barron's ● Sep. 9, 2026

The International Agency for Research on Cancer classifies the chemical as a probable carcinogen and has linked exposure to bladder cancer, multiple myeloma and non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 7, 2026

Not all cancers do, and that implies the vaccine’s success in melanoma may not translate to other types of cancer it’s being tested in, such as renal-cell carcinoma and bladder cancer.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 20, 2026

There are other studies under way in different types of cancer, including bladder cancer, a common form of lung cancer and kidney cancer.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026

She scraped all the fat from it and stuffed it in the bladder she had saved.

From "Julie of the Wolves" by Jean Craighead George

U.S. bases and installations throughout the Indo-Pacific—such as in Japan, the Philippines and Guam—are in desperate need of hardened aircraft shelters, air defenses, reinforced munitions storage bunkers and fuel bladders.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 20, 2026

We feel the pressure of sore backs and full bladders.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 10, 2025

Trucks haul in what’s needed, and enormous bladders collect what’s been used.

From Salon ● Nov. 25, 2024

Utricularia vulgaris, also known as a bladderwort, is a carnivorous plant that traps its prey using specialized hollow, water filled trap bladders.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 20, 2024

“Now here’s a sight to see,” he quipped as they were emptying their bladders, “a dwarf and a duck, making the mighty Rhoyne that much mightier.”

From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin