guano

[ gwah-noh ]

/ ˈgwɑ noʊ /

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See synonyms for guano on Thesaurus.com

noun

a natural manure composed chiefly of the excrement of sea birds, found especially on islands near the Peruvian coast.

any similar substance, as an artificial fertilizer made from fish.

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THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?

Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.

Question 1 of 7

In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

candystring

candyfloss

candypuff

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Origin of guano

First recorded in 1595–1605; from Spanish: “fertilizer, dung”; Latin American Spanish huano “dung,” from Quechua wanu “dung for fuel, fertilizer”

Words nearby guano

Guangzhou, Guangzhouwan, guanidine, guanine, guanine deaminase, guano, guanosine, guanosine monophosphate, guanosine triphosphate, Guantánamo, Guantánamo Bay

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use guano in a sentence

By taking thousands of samples from guano, fecal swabs, and bat tissue, and searching those samples for genetic sequences similar to SARS, Shi’s team began to discover many closely related viruses.
Inside the risky bat-virus engineering that links America to Wuhan|Rowan Jacobsen|June 29, 2021|MIT Technology Review
In one sample of bat guano, Shi had detected the genome of a new virus, called SHC014, that was one of the two closest relatives to the original SARS virus, but her team had not been able to culture it in the lab.
Inside the risky bat-virus engineering that links America to Wuhan|Rowan Jacobsen|June 29, 2021|MIT Technology Review
The bat-infested copper mine in southwestern China was home to a coronavirus that left six men sick with pneumonia, with three eventually dying, after they had been tasked with shoveling bat guano out of the mine.
Timeline: How the Wuhan lab-leak theory suddenly became credible|Glenn Kessler|May 25, 2021|Washington Post
With one friend, I finally spelled it out — I wasn’t in a place to carry his guano.
Carolyn Hax: How to play director to a high-drama friend|Carolyn Hax|April 22, 2021|Washington Post

A man who suddenly fell ill after collecting bat guano from a cave to use for fertilizer.
No one can find the animal that gave people covid-19|Antonio Regalado|March 26, 2021|MIT Technology Review
Possibly the use of guano might make wheat a paying crop, but he still doubted.
Tobacco; Its History, Varieties, Culture, Manufacture and Commerce|E. R. Billings.
In the subjoined tables the composition of a great variety of different kinds of guano is given.
Elements of Agricultural Chemistry|Thomas Anderson
The value and use of guano are now so well understood, that it is scarcely necessary to enlarge on the mode of its application.
Elements of Agricultural Chemistry|Thomas Anderson
Hence an important difference between Peruvian guano and most other varieties.
Elements of Agricultural Chemistry|Thomas Anderson
The variety of guano to be selected must depend to a great extent on the use to which it is to be put.
Elements of Agricultural Chemistry|Thomas Anderson

British Dictionary definitions for guano

guano

/ (ˈɡwɑːnəʊ) /

noun plural -nos

the dried excrement of fish-eating sea birds, deposited in rocky coastal regions of South America: contains the urates, oxalates, and phosphates of ammonium and calcium; used as a fertilizer
the accumulated droppings of bats and seals

any similar but artificial substance used as a fertilizer

Word Origin for guano

C17: from Spanish, from Quechuan huano dung

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