Tū'bu-lar, a.

a. [Fr. tubulaire, from Lat. tubulus, diminutive of tubus, a tube or pipe.] Having the form of a tube or pipe; consisting of a pipe; fistular; as, a tubular snout; a tubular calyx.

Tubular boiler, a steam-boiler in which the products of combustion pass from the fire-box through a system of tubes, so as to heat the water by which they are surrounded. — Tubular bridge, a bridge in the form of a hollow trunk or tube, made of iron plates riveted together, as the Victoria bridge over the St. Lawrence, at Montreal, Canada, and the Britannia bridge over the Menai Straits. — Tubular girder, a plate-girder having two or more vertical webs with a space between them.