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:
Constipation, diarrhea, unusually narrow stools, or a lasting change in normal bowel habits may indicate an underlying problem.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 22, 2026
Donna, 56, now requires her large bowel to be removed because of her vaginal mesh medical device, which was removed after she felt it cutting into her.
From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026
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
Frenchy’s bowel scourer proved to be so fabulously potent that bottles of it spontaneously exploded in the jockeys’ room lavatory.
From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand
For more than a year, an uncontrolled fire had burned in the bowels of the dump, broiling old garbage and sending nauseating fumes into nearby homes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 12, 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
But no one, outside a very select few in the bowels of government, we now know, could have predicted this.
From BBC ● Apr. 17, 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
While straining in this way, focusing every erg of energy on his eyes, his bowels suddenly opened up, and before he could realize what he knew, liquid stools were running down his legs.
From "The Bluest Eye" by Toni Morrison
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.
