What does "bolus" mean?

A round mass of something, especially of chewed food in the mouth or alimentary canal.

What is a synonym for "bolus"?

Common synonyms include: ball, balloon, bite, bladder, blob, boll.

//ˈbəʊləs// noun, verb

noun, verb ·Uncommon ·College level

Noun

1
A round mass of something, especially of chewed food in the mouth or alimentary canal.
2
a large pill; used especially in veterinary medicine wordnet
3
A single, large dose of a drug, especially one in that form.
"I gave him a bolus, twice the size of a gooseberry."
4
a small round soft mass (as of chewed food) wordnet

Verb

1
To administer (a drug) in bolus dosing, that is, dosing in (one or more) boluses. transitive
2
To take a bolus (dose) of insulin at a mealtime in order to control one's blood glucose level in diabetes. intransitive

"When you're chewing something you're eating, it gets mushed into a mass called a bolus, which you then swallow."

From Late Latin bōlus (“clod of earth, lump”), plural bōlī, from Ancient Greek βῶλος (bôlos, “clod, lump”). Doublet of bole.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.