hemorrhoid

American  

[hem-uh-roid, hem-roid] / ˈhɛm əˌrɔɪd, ˈhɛm rɔɪd /

noun

• hemorrhoids
  plural

1. Pathology. Usually hemorrhoids an abnormally enlarged vein mainly due to a persistent increase in venous pressure, occurring inside the anal sphincter of the rectum and beneath the mucous membrane internal hemorrhoid or outside the anal sphincter and beneath the surface of the anal skin external hemorrhoid.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• hemorrhoidal
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• hemorrhoids
  plural

Etymology

Origin of hemorrhoid

1350–1400; Middle English emoroides (plural) < Latin haemorrhoid ( a ) < Greek haimorroḯda (adj.) discharging blood

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

hemorrhoid hemorrhoids

Interestingly, the study did not find a connection between straining during bowel movements and hemorrhoid risk, which differs from conclusions drawn in some earlier studies.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 7, 2026

Norms also has a Hemmies chatbot that fields hemorrhoid queries and does throwback-style PSAs designed to encourage people to talk about hemorrhoids without being too serious.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 21, 2025

California health officials are warning the public about a Vietnamese hemorrhoid ointment that is laced with a “highly dangerous amount of lead” and has killed a Sacramento woman.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 15, 2024

It's like the medical disclaimers at the end of a hemorrhoid cream commercial, just it's so fast.

From Salon ● Dec. 19, 2023

All of the circulatory vessels, especially the smaller ones, become enlarged, varicose; and an aggregation of varicosed vessels forms a tumor called a pile or hemorrhoid.

From Intestinal Ills Chronic Constipation, Indigestion, Autogenetic Poisons, Diarrhea, Piles, Etc. Also Auto-Infection, Auto-Intoxication, Anemia, Emaciation, Etc. Due to Proctitis and Colitis by Alcinous B. (Alcinous Burton) Jamison

Endoscopists then examined the participants for signs of hemorrhoids.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 7, 2026

Norms also has a Hemmies chatbot that fields hemorrhoid queries and does throwback-style PSAs designed to encourage people to talk about hemorrhoids without being too serious.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 21, 2025

Not that smartphone users are more likely to get hemorrhoids, or even that smartphone users were five times more likely to spend more than five minutes on the toilet than nonusers.

From Slate ● Sep. 12, 2025

“Here are some of the things that are more popular than Congress: hemorrhoids, Nickelback, traffic jams, cockroaches, root canals, colonoscopies, herpes,” Schwarzenegger said in a 2017 Facebook video.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 29, 2025

He could come through other people’s tonsilectomies without suffering any postoperative distress, and even endure their hernias and hemorrhoids with only mild nausea and revulsion.

From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller