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rectum

American  
[rek-tuhm] / ˈrɛk təm /

noun

Anatomy.
  • rectums,
    plural
  • recta
    plural
  1. the comparatively straight, terminal section of the intestine, ending in the anus.


rectum British  
/ ˈrɛktəm /

noun

  1. the lower part of the alimentary canal, between the sigmoid flexure of the colon and the anus

"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

rectum Scientific  
/ rĕk′təm /
  • rectums
    plural
  1. The last section of the digestive tract, extending from the colon to the anus, in which feces is stored for elimination from the body.


rectum Cultural  
  1. The outermost portion of the large intestine. Feces are stored in the rectum until they are passed out of the body through the anus.


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:

Bright red stool, dark or tarry stool, or mucus in the stool can be associated with bleeding somewhere in the gastrointestinal tract, colon, or rectum.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 22, 2026

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

A Spanish-speaking detainee at California’s McFarland immigrant detention facility was struggling in May 2023 to tell a doctor, in broken English, that he sometimes bled from his rectum.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 5, 2024

"What many spinal cord injury patients do is manually evacuate their bowels - using their hands to pull out whatever is in their rectum at the time," he explains.

From BBC ● Jan. 20, 2024

The procedure wasn't effective because the rectum and large intestine absorbed few nutrients from the mixture, not enough to sustain a man.

From "Ambushed!" by Gail Jarrow

The vasa recta around it acts as the countercurrent exchanger.

From Textbooks ● Jun. 9, 2022

In juxtamedullary nephrons, the peritubular capillary network forms a network around the loop of Henle and is called the vasa recta.

From Textbooks ● Jun. 9, 2022

It is important to understand the difference between the glomerulus and the peritubular and vasa recta capillaries.

From Textbooks ● Jun. 19, 2013

Solutes and water recovered from these loops are returned to the circulation by way of the vasa recta.

From Textbooks ● Jun. 19, 2013

When the concave part is uppermost, it is called a cyma recta; but if the convex portion is at the top, it is called a cyma reversa.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 7, Slice 8 "Cube" to "Daguerre, Louis" by Various

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

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

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

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