Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Synonyms

feces

American  
[fee-seez] / ˈfi siz /
especially British, faeces

noun

(used with a plural verb)

  1. waste matter discharged from the intestines through the anus; excrement.

  2. dregs; sediment.

feces British  
/ ˈfiːsiːz /

plural noun

  1. the usual US spelling of faeces

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
feces Scientific  
/ fē′sēz /

  1. Waste matter eliminated from the intestinal tract.

feces Cultural  

  1. Excrement; the waste material that is passed to the outside from the rectum through the anus.

Etymology

Origin of feces

1425–75; late Middle English < Latin faecēs grounds, dregs, sediment (plural of faex )

Explanation

Feces is a technical word for poop: the brown stuff you excrete from your butt. Everyone makes feces. Also called a bowel movement or stool — plus hundreds of terms in slang — feces is the solid waste material your body makes when you go number two. This isn't the word you'd probably use with your buddies, but it is the right word if you're writing a paper or talking to a teacher. Talking about feces can seem funny, but it's pretty important: if you couldn't make feces, you'd die.

Keep Reading on Vocabulary.com

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.

Once infected, the flea spreads the disease to humans when flea feces is rubbed into cuts or scrapes on the skin or the eyes.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 3, 2026

People most often contract toxoplasmosis by eating undercooked meat or coming into contact with contaminated soil or cat feces.

From Science Daily • Jan. 27, 2026

The parasite’s eggs must be in the feces for two to four weeks before they can cause infection, so officials urged quick cleanup of any raccoon feces using gloves.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 17, 2026

In the Toiyabe Range of Nevada, where BTAZ’s BLM and Forest Service grazing allotments border each other, cow feces covered the ground surrounding a stock tank fed by mountain streams.

From Salon • Dec. 4, 2025

Without large, perfectly shaped eyes, their feces couldn’t make you feel that way.

From "Uglies" by Scott Westerfeld

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.