bowel
Americannoun
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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 reports followed growing concerns among customers over the illness, which the CDC said can cause “sometimes explosive bowel movements.”
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 18, 2026
A midstage trial for the same drug in adults with irritable bowel syndrome with diarrhea and mixed bowel habits will continue to evaluate its efficacy and safety, GSK said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026
She told the inquiry Elise began struggling with anxiety when she was 10 and also experienced a number of physical health problems, including a curvature of the spine and bowel issues.
From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026
Those infected may be asymptomatic or experience uncomfortable symptoms, including “watery diarrhea with frequent and sometimes explosive bowel movements.”
From Salon ● Jul. 13, 2026
She had a perforated bowel that was slowly leaking bile into her abdomen and it threw her organs out of whack.
From "If I Stay" by Gayle Forman
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
By the time he had a video examination of his bowels – called a colonoscopy – the cancer was so large it blocked the camera from getting in.
From BBC ● Apr. 28, 2026
Soon afterward, he was in the hospital, receiving treatment for a blockage in his bowels.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 5, 2026
Somewhere in the bowels of my music collection hides 1985’s George Clinton-produced “Freaky Styley” and 1987’s “The Uplift Mofo Party Plan” on crumbling cassettes.
From Salon ● Apr. 4, 2026
It was a whole world, this ship, and now we were in its very bowels.
From "Secrets at Sea" by Richard Peck
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 Bierce, Ambrose
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.
