fart
Americannoun
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a release of intestinal gas through the anus; a flatus.
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an irritating or foolish person.
verb (used without object)
verb phrase
noun
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an emission of intestinal gas from the anus, esp an audible one
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a contemptible person
verb
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to expel intestinal gas from the anus; to break wind
-
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to behave foolishly or aimlessly
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to waste time
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Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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fartsimple
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fartssimple
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have fartedperfect
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has fartedperfect
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am fartingprogressive
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are fartingprogressive
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is fartingprogressive
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have been fartingperfect progressive
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has been fartingperfect progressive
Past
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fartedsimple
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had fartedperfect
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was fartingprogressive
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were fartingprogressive
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had been fartingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of fart
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English ferten, farten (verb), fert, fart (noun); cognate with Greek pérdein (verb), pordḗ (noun)
Explanation
We don’t all like to admit it, but we all fart. That is, we all pass smelly gas out of our anus. Kids — and a few adults too — find farting funny. If someone lets out a long fart during church or class, someone is bound to laugh. However, the teacher probably won’t laugh, and the culprit could be in big trouble. Be careful about accusing others of farting, because one of the oldest rules of the schoolyard is “He who smelt it, dealt it.” A less slangy word for fart is flatulence.
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:
“I’m a big dusty old fart when it comes to the mystique of things,” she says.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 4, 2026
Did he just have a brain fart and forget that Gov. Janet Mills dropped out of the primary?
From Slate ● May 30, 2026
Faison: I’m not trying to make a fart joke.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 20, 2026
"Take him, take the old fart, take him!"
From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2025
Sitting, she lets out a gigantic fart and turns bright red.
From "The Misfits" by James Howe
The RFU council - famously described by then England captain Will Carling in 1995 as "57 old farts" - is in the process of being reformed.
From BBC ● Jun. 9, 2026
And because they're constantly told their wealth means they're smarter than everyone else, they start to enjoy the smell of their own farts.
From Salon ● Apr. 10, 2024
They sleep in the same bed and complain about each other’s farts.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 14, 2024
“And then Adrienne flipped to the next screen and it was an older woman with no teeth who’s singing into a microphone and then farts into it,” he says.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 15, 2024
And then all of a sudden she let out the biggest, loudest, smelliest fart in the history of farts.
From "Wonder" by R. J. Palacio
But back on set the following day, the Swansea-born actor said she then "farted in front of him", adding: "I was mortified."
From BBC ● Feb. 11, 2026
“I have never farted once on this show. As a matter of fact, I barely fart,” she told viewers.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 17, 2022
I ask because I saw a lot of people on Twitter say that they would have farted in Roger Goodell’s chair.
From Slate ● Apr. 30, 2021
“The fact that I farted in front of Prince” should be motivation enough to listen to the book, Newman said, her lilting voice striking a wry note.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 16, 2021
At Dessie’s they were women who went to the toilet and overate and scratched and farted.
From "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck
"It makes a huge farting noise basically," says John Harrison, director of the site, as he explains where its name originates.
From BBC ● Apr. 18, 2026
The Galacticoaster, after all, has a farting space cow.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 6, 2026
“We desperately need to understand what the baseline of human flatulence patterns are. It’s 2026 and we don’t know how many times the average American is farting every day.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 27, 2026
I’ll hold it in now, because we just met, but normally I would be farting.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 23, 2025
The black tops of the seats, which may not be leather, make a gentle farting sound when you sit down on them, so Cordelia and I and all girls prefer the booths.
From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood
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.
