rectum
Americannoun
-
rectums,
plural
-
recta
plural
noun
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rectums
plural
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of rectum
1535–45; < New Latin rēctum ( intestīnum ) the straight (intestine)
Vocabulary lists containing rectum
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:
You’re also at risk of developing hemorrhoids—swollen veins in the anus and lower rectum that can cause pain and bleeding—according to a study that came out last week.
From Slate ● Sep. 12, 2025
When he arrived to see what the birds were eating, he found a dead cow, its rectum and udders torn away — classic wolf kill.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 21, 2025
In severe cases, patients may require surgical removal of all or part of the rectum.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 24, 2024
Ulcerative colitis is a condition where the colon and rectum become inflamed.
From BBC ● Apr. 9, 2024
Actually, there are three folding chairs at a table immediately adjacent to the bathroom, but hardly anyone ever sits in this, the very rectum of the gastroarchitectural system.
From "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America" by Barbara Ehrenreich
The vasa recta around it acts as the countercurrent exchanger.
From Textbooks ● Jun. 9, 2022
Movement of water from the glomerulus is primarily due to pressure, whereas that of peritubular capillaries and vasa recta is due to osmolarity and concentration gradients.
From Textbooks ● Jun. 19, 2013
It is important to understand the difference between the glomerulus and the peritubular and vasa recta capillaries.
From Textbooks ● Jun. 19, 2013
The efferent arteriole is the connecting vessel between the glomerulus and the peritubular capillaries and vasa recta.
From Textbooks ● Jun. 19, 2013
He concentrated his thoughts on the prayer from the Imitation: "Domine, dummodo voluntas mea recta et firma ad te permaneat, fac de me quid-quid tibi placuerit."
From The Saint by William Roscoe Thayer
Wouldn’t we have died out from these mysterious “toxins”? Wouldn’t our rectums be different?
From The Guardian ● Jan. 9, 2018
At one institution, mice consistently developed prolapsed rectums and died two months after birth.
From Nature ● Jun. 9, 2015
A new survey finds that babies born via cesarean section had markedly different bacteria on their skin, noses mouths and rectums than babies born vaginally.
From US News ● Jun. 22, 2010
Babies’ mouths and skin were swabbed immediately after birth, and their rectums were swabbed after their first bowel movement.
From US News ● Jun. 22, 2010
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.
