enema
Americannoun
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enemas,
plural
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enemata
plural
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the injection of a fluid into the rectum to cause a bowel movement.
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the fluid injected.
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Also called enema bag. a rubber bag or other device for administering an enema.
noun
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the introduction of liquid into the rectum to evacuate the bowels, medicate, or nourish
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the liquid so introduced
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of enema
First recorded in 1675–85; from Late Latin, from Greek: “injection,” from en- en- 2 + (h)e- (stem of hiénai “to send, throw”) + -ma, noun suffix
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:
Davids — who grew up in South Africa, where culturally it’s common for grandmothers to administer enemas to children in rural areas — does a coffee enema twice per month.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026
There, they performed another enema that finally helped with the pain.
From Seattle Times ● May 23, 2023
The microbiome company Rebiotix Inc. last year announced positive results from a phase 3 trial of its recurrent C. difficile treatment, a filtered stool product delivered as an enema.
From Science Magazine ● Jan. 19, 2022
Maybe, when this is all over, we will be weirdly thankful for the cultural enema.
From New York Times ● Mar. 14, 2020
Amid hot-water bottles and enema bags, he placed his bets.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
A review of case reports from nine people who self-administered coffee enemas also concluded that there’s insufficient evidence to prove that the practice is helpful, and that it could be harmful, to the colon.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026
In the 19th century, an American doctor, Russell Thatcher Trall, did the same, adding cold-water enemas.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026
After her diagnosis in December 2023, Ms Shemirani went to live with her mother and began having five coffee enemas a day, according to her brothers.
From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2025
What if an incurable condition could be managed with fresh juice and coffee enemas?
From Salon ● Feb. 7, 2025
The doctors resorted to giving him nourishment with enemas several times a day.
From "Ambushed!" by Gail Jarrow
He has been too weak to take enemata, so we cannot say if motions would still have been offensive.
From The Healthy Life, Vol. V, Nos. 24-28 The Independent Health Magazine by Charles William Daniel
Simple enemata of warm water or soap and water will often suffice.
From A System of Practical Medicine by American Authors, Vol. I Volume 1: Pathology and General Diseases by Various
If the tympanites coexist with constipation, enemata, either with or without a small quantity of oil of turpentine, may often be used with advantage.
From A System of Practical Medicine by American Authors, Vol. I Volume 1: Pathology and General Diseases by Various
If there is a tendency to constipation give rectal enemata.
From Mother's Remedies Over One Thousand Tried and Tested Remedies from Mothers of the United States and Canada by Thomas Jefferson Ritter
If marked distress is present, morphin is given and where there is much rise of temperature, cold drinking water is offered in abundance and catharsis is enhanced by enemata.
From Lameness of the Horse Veterinary Practitioners' Series, No. 1 by John Victor Lacroix
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.
