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:
The father of two has since lost part of his bowel to cancer and remains too ill to work.
From Barron's ● Aug. 28, 2026
On 18 January, she underwent emergency surgery, in which part of her bowel was removed and a stoma fitted.
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026
The group included healthy volunteers as well as people with diseases or treatments associated with immune suppression, including HIV, multiple myeloma, solid organ malignancy, autoimmune disease, inflammatory bowel disease and solid organ transplantation.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 21, 2026
He posted on social media about various health ailments, including irritable bowel syndrome and spondylolisthesis, a condition caused by a vertebra slipping out of place.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
At an early age my mother sat me down and explained that everyone has bowel movements.
From "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris
Eventually John meets his fate by falling through a portal into an abandoned mall, then following signs directing him to a manager’s office hidden in its bowels.
From Salon ● Aug. 31, 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
NEW YORK—More than a million fans will visit New York City this month for the World Cup, and many of them will squeeze through the decaying bowels of Pennsylvania Station while they’re here.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 13, 2026
Soon afterward, he was in the hospital, receiving treatment for a blockage in his bowels.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 5, 2026
Until finally the doctor emerged from the bowels of the hospital and told us: A bruised tailbone.
From "The Book of Unknown Americans" by Cristina Henríquez
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.
