orifice
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of orifice
1535–45; < Middle French < Late Latin ōrificium, equivalent to Latin ōr- (stem of ōs ) mouth + -i- -i- + -fic-, combining form of facere to make, do 1 ( see -fic) + -ium noun suffix
Explanation
An orifice is an opening or a hole, most often in the body. Your mouth is an orifice through which you eat and speak, and your nostrils are orifices through which you breathe. The word orifice is used most often to describe a natural opening in the body. Humans have multiple orifices that provide passageways in and out of the body. The word orifice can also describe an opening into any cavity, such as a hollowed out tree trunk or the vent of a heating system. A volcano has at least one orifice through which lava, ash, and hot gases spew. Caves have orifices through which water, animals, and people can enter and emerge.
Vocabulary lists containing orifice
100 SAT words Beginning with "O"
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Body Language: Or, Os ("Mouth")
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As I Lay Dying
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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.
The New World screwworm is a fly that lays hundreds of eggs in the open wounds or body orifices of warm-blooded animals, even openings as small as a tick bite.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 12, 2026
His friend, Michael Adams, painted a replica of Vecna’s stained-glass front door, and Knowles used papier-mâché to make the clock and the flower-shaped orifices of the Demodogs.
From Seattle Times • Oct. 30, 2023
Surgeries included many performed in the body’s orifices to treat polyps, inflamed tonsils, hemorrhoids and fistulas.
From New York Times • Jun. 13, 2023
Ebola causes vomiting, diarrhoea, and bleeding from all body orifices, and spreads through contact with the bodily fluids of those infected.
From Reuters • Dec. 8, 2022
In the walls of the cubicle there were three orifices.
From "1984" by George Orwell
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.
