tuber

tuber¹

—tuberless, adj. —tuberoid, adj.

/tooh"beuhr, tyooh"-/, n.

1. Bot. a fleshy, usually oblong or rounded thickening or outgrowth, as the potato, of a subterranean stem or shoot, bearing minute scalelike leaves with buds or eyes in their axils from which new plants may arise.

2. Anat. a rounded swelling or protuberance; a tuberosity; a tubercle.

[1660-70; < L tuber bump, swelling. Compare truffle]

tuber²

/tooh"beuhr, tyooh"-/, n.

1. a person or thing that forms, installs, or operates with tubes.

2. Also called inner-tuber. a person who participates in the sport of tubing.

[1920-25; TUBE + -ER¹]

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Short, thickened, mostly underground stem that constitutes the resting stage of certain seed plants.

It is often an organ of food storage, reproduction, or both. It bears minute scale leaves, each with a bud that has the potential for developing into a new plant. The common potato is a typical tuber; the much-reduced leaves and associated buds form its "eyes." The term is also used imprecisely but widely for fleshy roots or rhizomes that resemble tubers (e.g., the "tuber" of the dahlia, actually a tuberous root).

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▪ part of plant

      short, thickened, mostly underground stem that constitutes the resting stage of certain seed plants. It bears minute scale leaves, each with a bud that has the potential for developing into a new plant. The potato is a typical tuber, as is the Jerusalem artichoke. The term is also used imprecisely but widely for fleshy roots or rhizomes of other plants that resemble tubers—e.g., the “tuber” (actually a tuberous root) of a dahlia.

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