Meaning & use
bladder
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountablemedical
The organ in the body that stores urine until it is released.
Grammar: Countable: 'a bladder', 'the bladders'.
Patterns
- empty one's bladder
- bladder infection
- bladder control
He had a bladder infection and needed antibiotics.
The doctor asked her to empty her bladder before the ultrasound.
Older adults may experience problems with bladder control.
nouncountable
A flexible bag or sac that holds liquid or gas, especially inside something else.
Grammar: Countable: 'a bladder', 'the bladders'.
Patterns
- rubber bladder
- the bladder of a ball
The hot water bottle has a rubber bladder inside.
The football's bladder needed to be inflated.
The wine was stored in a plastic bladder inside a box.
Word forms
| plural | bladders |
|---|
Common combinations
- empty one's bladder
- It is important to empty your bladder completely.
- bladder infection
- She went to the doctor for a bladder infection.
- bladder control
- The medication helped improve his bladder control.
- rubber bladder
- The rubber bladder inside the ball had a slow leak.
Word family
- bladdery adjective
- Resembling or having the characteristics of a bladder; rare.
Commonly confused: bladder or blather?
bladder vs blather
Blather means to talk foolishly; bladder is the organ or a flexible bag.
Practice
The doctor told him to empty his ___ before the scan.
Choose one answer.
The bladder is the organ that stores urine, so 'empty one's bladder' is the correct phrase. The other options are unrelated words.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “bladder”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.