bowel

(bou'əl, boul)
n.

1. 1. The intestine. Often used in the plural.
   2. A part or division of the intestine: the large bowel.
2. bowels The interior of something: in the bowels of the ship.
3. bowels Archaic. The seat of pity or the gentler emotions.

[Middle English, from Old French boel, from Latin botellus, small intestine, diminutive of botulus, sausage.]

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The large intestine.

This term is more colloquial than strictly anatomical; it may refer to the whole of the gut or intestines, or to any part of them; thus ‘inflammation of the bowel’, or ‘cancer of the bowel’ might be anywhere from the small intestine to the rectum; ‘small bowel’ and ‘large bowel’ may specify which part. An ‘irritable bowel’ covers a host of symptoms and an uncertain location, although usually the colon. Bowel movement or bowels, plural, (opening of, regularity of, ‘any trouble with?’) euphemizes defecation. The association of intestines with profound and concealed rumblings has presumably led to usages like ‘the bowels of the earth’ whereas ‘gut-feeling’ perpetuates a historical emotional link: compare ‘bowels of compassion’ or Cromwell's plea ‘in the bowels of Christ, think it possible you may be mistaken’. The derivation of the word is from the Latin for sausage.

— Stuart Judge

See alimentary system; defecation; toilet practices.

IN BRIEF: n. - The center of the Earth.

Tutor's tip: The miners went down to the "bowels" (the inner part) of the earth and found three ancient "bowls" (more than one bowl).

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The intestine.

• b. edema — see edema disease.
• b. entrapment — see intestinal strangulation.
• hemorrhagic b. syndrome — see proliferative hemorrhagic enteropathy.
• b. sounds — relatively high-pitched abdominal sounds caused by the propulsion of the intestinal contents through the lower alimentary tract. Auscultation of bowel sounds is best accomplished by using a diaphragm-type stethoscope rather than a bell-shaped one. Normal bowel sounds are characterized by bubbling and gurgling noises that vary in frequency, intensity and pitch. In the presence of distention from flatus, the sounds are hyperresonant and can be heard over the entire abdomen.
• b. training — see housetraining.

For a list of words related to bowel, see:

• Digestive and Excretory System - bowel: any of divisions of intestine; gut

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See words rhyming with "bowel."

  See crossword solutions for the clue Bowels.

Dansk (Danish)
n. - tarm, indvolde

idioms:

• bowel movement    afføring

Nederlands (Dutch)
darm

Français (French)
n. - (Anat) intestin(s), boyaux (d'un animal), (fig) entrailles

idioms:

• bowel movement    déjection

Deutsch (German)
n. - Darm

idioms:

• bowel movement    Stuhlgang

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - σπλάχνο, έντερο, (πληθ.) (μτφ.) έγκατα

idioms:

• bowel movement    (ιατρ.) αφόδευση, κόπρανα

Italiano (Italian)
intestino

idioms:

• bowel movement    defecazione

Português (Portuguese)
n. - intestino (m)

idioms:

• bowel movement    movimento (m) intestinal

Русский (Russian)
кишка

idioms:

• bowel movement    испражнение

Español (Spanish)
n. - intestino

idioms:

• bowel movement    evacuación, evacuación intestinal

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - tarm, inälvor

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
肠, 同情心

idioms:

• bowel movement    大便, 粪便

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 腸, 同情心

idioms:

• bowel movement    大便, 糞便

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 내장, 내부, 연민

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 腸, 結腸, 内部, はらわた
v. - …のはらわたを取る

idioms:

• bowel movement    排便, 便通, 糞便

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) أمعاء, أحشاء‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮מעי‬

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