haemorrhoids

British  

/ ˈhɛməˌrɔɪdz /

plural noun

1. Nontechnical name: piles.  pathol swollen and twisted veins in the region of the anus and lower rectum, often painful and bleeding

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• haemorrhoidal
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of haemorrhoids

C14: from Latin haemorrhoidae (plural), from Greek, from haimorrhoos discharging blood, from haimo- _haemo- + rhein to flow

Example Sentences

Michael had developed stage 4 haemorrhoids - the most severe type - she said.

From BBC • Aug. 30, 2025

Changes to our bowel movements could just be stress, blood in the toilet after we poo could be inflammatory bowel disease or haemorrhoids.

From BBC • May 13, 2022

Untold millions suffer from haemorrhoids – in the US alone, some estimates run to 125 million – and millions more have related conditions such as colonic inflammation.

From The Guardian • Nov. 30, 2018

On a shelf is a lurid, plastic, life-size model of a rectum afflicted by every imaginable malady – haemorrhoids, fistulae, ulcerative colitis, faecaliths.

From The Guardian • Mar. 31, 2013

Another accident to which women in child-bed are subject is haemorrhoids or piles, occasioned through the great straining in bringing the child into the world.

From The Works of Aristotle the Famous Philosopher Containing his Complete Masterpiece and Family Physician; his Experienced Midwife, his Book of Problems and his Remarks on Physiognomy by Aristotle