enema
Americannoun
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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
The sooner you take your dog to its veterinarian, the greater the chance of removing the toxin from its body through methods such as inducing vomiting or administering an enema.
From New York Times ● Feb. 13, 2023
Lidl enema: You can find just about anything in that supermarket’s variety aisle.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 27, 2022
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
Amid hot-water bottles and enema bags, he placed his bets.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
Unsurprisingly, given that most people tend to find coffee enemas after reports of being failed by Western medicine, mainstream gastroenterology is not on board with this practice.
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
Ms Shemirani, 23, had declined chemotherapy in favour of juices and coffee enemas advocated for by her mother, Kate Shemirani, a former nurse who was struck off for her anti-vaccination views.
From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2025
What if an incurable condition could be managed with fresh juice and coffee enemas?
From Salon ● Feb. 7, 2025
Fifty years from now that diet might seem as crazy as Kellogg’s enemas.
From "The Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan
On June 29th the pulse was 96, temperature 100.5°; occasional convulsive attacks occurred, which were readily controlled by enemata of hydrate of chloral.
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 Ritter, Thomas Jefferson
He speaks more favourably of the introduction of food into the stomach by a silver tube; and he strongly recommends the use of nutritive enemata.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 3, Part 1, Slice 1 "Austria, Lower" to "Bacon" by Various
Purgatives and enemata used often and for a long time.
From Mother's Remedies Over One Thousand Tried and Tested Remedies from Mothers of the United States and Canada by Ritter, Thomas Jefferson
The length of time during which the enemata and the douche are to be used, whether months or years, will depend on the character of the disease that made its use necessary.
From Intestinal Ills Chronic Constipation, Indigestion, Autogenetic Poisons, Diarrhea, Piles, Etc. Also Auto-Infection, Auto-Intoxication, Anemia, Emaciation, Etc. Due to Proctitis and Colitis by Jamison, Alcinous B. (Alcinous Burton)
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.
