bowel
Americannoun
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bowels
plural
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Anatomy.
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Usually bowels. the intestine.
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a part of the intestine.
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bowels,
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the inward or interior parts.
the bowels of the earth.
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Archaic. feelings of pity or compassion.
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verb (used with object)
noun
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an intestine, esp the large intestine in man
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(plural) innards; entrails
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(plural) the deep or innermost part (esp in the phrase the bowels of the earth )
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archaic (plural) the emotions, esp of pity or sympathy
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of bowel
1250–1300; Middle English b ( o ) uel < Old French < Latin botellus little sausage ( bot ( ulus ) sausage + -ellus -elle )
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
This can be on the bowel or in the lungs - and the cells multiply, creating raw and angry sores.
From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2026
Megan Bamford believes cutting out UPFs from her diet has helped her manage irritable bowel syndrome and chronic pain.
From BBC ● Sep. 26, 2026
A third drug, for inflammatory bowel disease, is currently in Phase 1 testing.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 23, 2026
Some of these populations were associated with advanced age, chronic inflammatory bowel diseases, colorectal cancer and type 2 diabetes.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 7, 2026
She had a perforated bowel that was slowly leaking bile into her abdomen and it threw her organs out of whack.
From "If I Stay" by Gayle Forman
Then, over the weekend, the brand found itself in a messy situation: At its Beijing event, the winner lost control of her bowels midrace and completed the challenges while diarrhea was leaking down her legs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
“For a program that’s been around since 2013, it was shocking that you’d come across its cancellation, effectively, in the corner of the bowels of a subpage of the internet.”
From Slate ● Aug. 18, 2026
For more than a year, an uncontrolled fire had burned in the bowels of the dump, broiling old garbage and sending nauseating fumes into nearby homes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 12, 2026
By the time he had a video examination of his bowels – called a colonoscopy – the cancer was so large it blocked the camera from getting in.
From BBC ● Apr. 28, 2026
They just suspected that he had been moving his bowels and not telling anyone.
From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller
He lightly runs to earth the quaint Red worm and, deftly troweling, He makes it with his boweling Familiarly acquaint.
From Black Beetles in Amber by Ambrose Bierce
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
