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Synonyms

flatus

American  
[flay-tuhs] / ˈfleɪ təs /

noun

  • flatuses
    plural
  1. intestinal gas produced by bacterial action on waste matter in the intestines and composed primarily of hydrogen sulfide and varying amounts of methane.


flatus British  
/ ˈfleɪtəs /

noun

  1. gas generated in the alimentary canal

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

Etymology

Origin of flatus

1660–70; < New Latin; Latin: a blowing, breathing, breath, equivalent to flā ( re ) to blow + -tus suffix of v. action

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 small sensor tracks hydrogen in flatus, allowing scientists to reexamine long held assumptions about how often people pass gas.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 14, 2026

The sensor is mostly dormant, but it also needs to record every emission, so the team needed a way to generate a flatus on command.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 20, 2026

M Gove has promised to phase out diesel- and petrol-driven cars by 2040, a tiny flatus puff in a vast tornado, 22 years of slow death away.

From The Guardian ● Jun. 3, 2018

Each day, up to 1500 mL of flatus is produced in the colon.

From Textbooks ● Jun. 19, 2013

Care must be used in preparing this flatus enema on account of the danger of curdling the milk with the acid in the molasses and the hot water.

From Dietetics for Nurses by Fairfax T. Proudfit

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