bowel movement

American  

noun

1. the evacuation of the bowels; defecation.

2. excrement from the bowels; feces.

---

bowel movement British  

noun

1. the discharge of faeces; defecation

2. the waste matter discharged; faeces

---

Example Sentences

The findings also suggest a meaningful biological connection between bowel movement frequency and IBS, a condition that affects millions of people worldwide.

From Science Daily • Jan. 22, 2026

It is found in the first bowel movement a newborn baby makes after birth.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 19, 2024

However, things didn’t quite go to plan and Indigo became stressed and showed signs of meconium aspiration syndrome, which basically means he had a bowel movement inside of me and that became an emergency.”

From BBC • May 27, 2024

The first, a 2019 study, tested umbilical cord blood for traces of acetaminophen and the second, published in 2020, measured acetaminophen in babies' first bowel movement.

From Salon • Jul. 13, 2023

I had to flick on the bathroom lights fast so that no small shadow would take a baby shape, sometimes seated on the edge of the bathtub, its hopes for a bowel movement so exaggerated.

From "The Woman Warrior" by Maxine Hong Kingston