adj
Meaning 1
Made of the wood of the bamboo.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: not-comparable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
bamboo
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
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băm-bo͞oʹ
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/bæmˈbu/
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US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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India: /ˈbæːm.buː/
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Philippines: /ˈbambu/
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rhymes with -uː
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CMU ARPABET: B AE0 M B UW1 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
noun
Meaning 2
Any of the fast-growing grasses of the Bambusoideae subfamily, characterized by its woody, hollow, round, straight, jointed stem.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 3
Wood of the bamboo plant as a material for building, furniture, etc.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 4
A stick, rod, pole, or cane of bamboo, especially one used as a vessel for liquids, or as a tool for corporal punishment.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 5
A didgeridoo.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, slang, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 6
A member of the British military or British East India Company who spent so much time in Indonesia, India, or Malaysia that they never returned home.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, slang, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 7
To flog with a bamboo cane.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: transitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 8
To paint (furniture, etc.) to give it the appearance of bamboo.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: transitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 9
To penetrate sexually.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: India, slang
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 10
woody tropical grass having hollow woody stems; mature canes used for construction and furniture
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: gramineous plant, graminaceous plant
Narrower terms: common bamboo, Bambusa vulgaris, giant cane, cane reed, Arundinaria gigantea, small cane, switch cane, Arundinaria tecta, giant bamboo, kyo-chiku, Dendrocalamus giganteus, fishpole bamboo, gosan-chiku, hotei-chiku, Phyllostachys aurea, black bamboo, kuri-chiku, Phyllostachys nigra, giant timber bamboo, madake, ku-chiku, Phyllostachys bambusoides
noun
Meaning 11
the hard woody stems of bamboo plants; used in construction and crafts and fishing poles
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: wood
History
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Dravidian *wē Proto-Dravidian *mpu Proto-Dravidian *wēmpu Tamil வேம்பு (vēmpu)bor. ▲ Proto-Dravidian *wēmpu Kannada ಬಂಬು (bambu)bor. Malay bambubor. Portuguese bambubor. Dutch bamboebor. English bamboo Borrowed from Dutch bamboe, from Portuguese bambu, from Malay bambu, from Kannada ಬಂಬು (bambu), variant form of ಬೇವು (bēvu). Cognate with Malayalam വേപ്പ് (vēppŭ), Telugu వేప (vēpa), from Proto-Dravidian *wēmpu (“neem”).
Across languages
Translations
232 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Belarusian: бамбу́кавы (bambúkavy) — made of bamboo
- Bulgarian: бамбуков (bambukov) — made of bamboo
- Czech: bambusový — made of bamboo
- Dutch: bamboe- — made of bamboo
- Esperanto: bambua — made of bamboo
- French: de bambou — made of bamboo
- Hungarian: bambusz — made of bamboo
- Italian: di bambù — made of bamboo
- Japanese: 竹製の (takesei no) — made of bamboo
- Macedonian: бамбусов (bambusov) — made of bamboo
- Polish: bambus — made of bamboo
- Polish: bambusowy — made of bamboo
- Portuguese: de bambu — made of bamboo
- Russian: бамбу́ковый (bambúkovyj) — made of bamboo
- Slovene: bambusov — made of bamboo
- Tagalog: kawayan — made of bamboo
- Tok Pisin: mambu — made of bamboo
- Ukrainian: бамбу́ковий (bambúkovyj) — made of bamboo
- Acehnese: tring — plant
- Acholi: koo — plant
- Albanian: bambu — plant
- Amharic: ቀርከሃ (ḳärkäha) — plant
- Arabic: خَيْزَرَان (ḵayzarān) — plant
- Arabic: خَيْزُرَان (ḵayzurān) — plant
- Arabic: خيزران (xayzaran) — plant
- Arabic: بامبو (bambu) — plant
- Juba Arabic: gana — plant
- Sudanese Arabic: قنا (gana) — plant
- Armenian: բամբուկ (bambuk) — plant
- Assamese: বাঁহ (bãh) — plant
- Asturian: bambú — plant
- Atayal: llkus — plant
- Azerbaijani: bambuk — plant
- Azerbaijani: hind qamışı — plant
- Banjarese: buluh — plant
- Banjarese: paring — plant
- Bashkir: һинд ҡамышы (hind qamışı) — plant
- Belarusian: бамбу́к (bambúk) — plant
- Bengali: বাঁশ (bãś) — plant
- Central Bikol: butong — plant
- Central Bikol: kawayan — plant
- Breton: bambouz — plant
- Bulgarian: бамбу́к (bambúk) — plant
- Burmese: ဝါး (wa:) — plant
- Catalan: bambú — plant
- Cebuano: kawayan — plant
- Chepang: रीङ् — plant
- Eastern Min Chinese: 竹 (dé̤ṳk) — plant
- Chinese: 竹仔 (zh-min-nan) — plant
- Chinese Mandarin: 竹子 (zhúzi) — plant
- East Circassian: шамбыр (šambər) — plant
- West Circassian: щэмбар (śɛmbar) — plant
- Crimean Tatar: ind qamışı — plant
- Czech: bambus — plant
- Danish: bambus — plant
- Dutch: bamboe — plant
- Esperanto: bambuo — plant
- Estonian: bambus — plant
- Faroese: bambus — plant
- Fijian: bitu — plant
- Fijian: kofe — plant
- Finnish: bambut — plant
- French: bambou — plant
- Galician: bambú — plant
- Georgian: ბამბუკი (bambuḳi) — plant
- German: Bambusse — plant
- Greek: μπαμπού (bampoú) — plant
- Hawaiian: ʻohe — plant
- Hebrew: בַּמְבּוּק (bambuk) — plant
- Hebrew: חִזְרָן (khizran) — plant
- Hiligaynon: kawayan — plant
- Hindi: बांस (bāns) — plant
- Hindi: बाँस (bā̃s) — plant
- White Hmong: xyoob — plant
- Hungarian: bambusz — plant
- Icelandic: bambus — plant
- Indonesian: buluh — plant
- Indonesian: bambu — plant
- Indonesian: aur — plant
- Irish: bambú — plant
- Italian: bambù — plant
- Japanese: 竹 (take) — plant
- Javanese: pring — plant
- Javanese: deling — plant
- Old Javanese: priṅ — plant
- Jeju: 대 (dae) — plant
- Kannada: ಬಿದಿರು (bidiru) — plant
- Kapampangan: kauayan — plant
- Kapampangan: kuwayan — plant
- S'gaw Karen: ဝၣ် (wà) — plant
- Kazakh: бамбук (bambuk) — plant
- Khmer: ឫស្សី (rɨhsəy) — plant
- Kikuyu: mũrangi — plant
- Korean: 대나무 (daenamu) — plant
- Kyrgyz: бамбук (bambuk) — plant
- Lao: ໄຜ່ (phai) — plant
- Latin: harundō Indica — plant
- Latvian: bambuss — plant
- Lithuanian: bambukas — plant
- Lombard: bambó — plant
- Lü: ᦺᦙᧉᦌᦱᧂ (may2saang) — plant
- Macedonian: бамбус (bambus) — plant
- Malay: buluh بولوه — plant
- Malay: bambu بمبو — plant
- Malay: aur اءور — plant
- Malay: pering ڤريڠ — plant
- Malayalam: മുള (muḷa) — plant
- Malayalam: വെതിർ (vetiṟ) — plant
- Manchu: ᠴᡠᠰᡝ (cuse) — plant
- Māori: inanga — plant
- Māori: kohe — plant
- Marshallese: bae — plant
- Marshallese: koba — plant
- Mon: ဒုန် (dun) — plant
- Mongolian: хулс (xuls) — plant
- Navajo: lókʼaatsoh — plant
- Norman: bambou — plant
- Norwegian Bokmål: bambus — plant
- Norwegian Nynorsk: bambus — plant
- Nupe: gusa — plant
- Occitan: bambó — plant
- Paiwan: qau — plant
- Pashto: باڼس — plant
- Persian: خیزران (xayzarân) — plant
- Persian: نی هندی (ney-e hendi) — plant
- Polish: bambusowe — plant
- Portuguese: bambus — plant
- Punjabi: ਬਾਂਸ (bāns) — plant
- Rarotongan: koʻe — plant
- Rohingya: bañc — plant
- Romanian: bambus — plant
- Romanian: bambu — plant
- Russian: бамбу́к (bambúk) — plant
- Salar: qamuş — plant
- Samoan: ʻofe — plant
- Sanskrit: वंश (vaṃśa) — plant
- Scottish Gaelic: bambù — plant
- Scottish Gaelic: cuilc-Fhrangach — plant
- Serbo-Croatian: ба̀мбус — plant
- Serbo-Croatian: тр̀сковача — plant
- Serbo-Croatian: bàmbus — plant
- Serbo-Croatian: tr̀skovača — plant
- Siberian Tatar: интий ҡамыш (intiy qamış) — plant
- Slovak: bambus — plant
- Slovene: bambus — plant
- Spanish: bambúes — plant
- Sranan Tongo: bambusi — plant
- Sundanese: awi — plant
- Swahili: mwanzi — plant
- Swedish: bambu — plant
- Sylheti: ꠛꠣ (ba) — plant
- Sylheti: ꠛꠣꠡ (baś) — plant
- Tagalog: kawayan — plant
- Tajik: бамбук (bambuk) — plant
- Tamil: மூங்கில் (mūṅkil) — plant
- Tamil: வேய் (vēy) — plant
- Tarifit: aɣanim — plant
- Tatar: һинд камышы (hind qamışı) — plant
- Telugu: వెదురు (veduru) — plant
- Tetum: au — plant
- Thai: ไผ่ (pài) — plant
- Tibetan: སྨྱུག་མ (smyug ma) — plant
- Tok Pisin: mambu — plant
- Tongan: kofe — plant
- Turkish: bambu — plant
- Turkish: Hint kamışı — plant
- Turkish: hezaren — plant
- Ottoman Turkish: قامش (kamış) — plant
- Turkmen: bambuk — plant
- Turkmen: hindigamşy — plant
- Ukrainian: бамбу́к (bambúk) — plant
- Urdu: بانس (bāns) — plant
- Uyghur: xitay qomushi — plant
- Uzbek: bambuk — plant
- Vietnamese: tre — plant
- Volapük: bambud — plant
- Volapük: lerid — plant
- Waray-Waray: kawayan — plant
- Welsh: bambŵ — plant
- Yoruba: ọparun — plant
- Zhuang: faexcuk — plant
- Zhuang: faexndoek — plant
- Albanian: bambu — wood
- Asturian: bambú — wood
- Breton: bambouz — wood
- Bulgarian: бамбу́к (bambúk) — wood
- Catalan: bambú — wood
- Chinese Mandarin: 竹子 (zhúzi) — wood
- Chinese Mandarin: 竹材 (zhúcái) — wood
- Czech: bambus — wood
- Dutch: bamboe — wood
- Finnish: bambu — wood
- French: bambou — wood
- Galician: bambú — wood
- German: Bambus — wood
- German: Bambusrohr — wood
- Hawaiian: ʻohe — wood
- Hebrew: במבוק (bambuq) — wood
- Hebrew: חִזְרָן (khizran) — wood
- Irish: bambú — wood
- Italian: bambù — wood
- Japanese: 竹 (take) — wood
- Japanese: 竹材 (takezai) — wood
- Javanese: pring — wood
- Javanese: deling — wood
- Macedonian: бамбус (bambus) — wood
- Malay: بولوه — wood
- Malay: بمبو — wood
- Malay: اءور — wood
- Malay: buluh — wood
- Malay: bambu — wood
- Malay: aur — wood
- Marshallese: bae — wood
- Marshallese: koba — wood
- Norman: bambou — wood
- Polish: bambus — wood
- Portuguese: bambu — wood
- Russian: бамбу́к (bambúk) — wood
- Russian: бамбу́ковая трость (bambúkovaja trostʹ) — wood
- Scottish Gaelic: bambù — wood
- Scottish Gaelic: cuilc-Fhrangach — wood
- Slovene: bambus — wood
- Spanish: bambú — wood
- Swedish: bambu — wood
- Tagalog: kawayan — wood
- Thai: ไม้ไผ่ (máai pài) — wood
- Tok Pisin: mambu — wood
- Turkish: bambu — wood
- Turkish: Hint kamışı — wood
- Turkish: hezaren — wood
- Welsh: bambŵ — wood
- Khiamniungan Naga: vāisǖāi — rope made from bamboo or cane
Real reading context