stomach
Americannoun
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stomachs
plural
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Anatomy, Zoology.
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a saclike enlargement of the alimentary canal, as in humans and certain animals, forming an organ for storing, diluting, and digesting food.
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such an organ or an analogous portion of the alimentary canal when divided into two or more sections or parts.
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any one of these sections.
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Zoology. any analogous digestive cavity or tract in invertebrates.
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the part of the body containing the stomach; belly or abdomen.
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appetite for food.
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desire, inclination, or liking.
I have no stomach for this trip.
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Obsolete.
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spirit; courage.
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pride; haughtiness.
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resentment; anger.
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verb (used with object)
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stomachs,
present (3rd person singular)
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stomached,
past participle, past
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stomaching
present participle
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to endure or tolerate (someone or something).
I can't stomach your constant nagging.
- Synonyms:
- countenance, abide, stand, bear
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Obsolete. to be offended at or resent.
noun
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(in vertebrates) the enlarged muscular saclike part of the alimentary canal in which food is stored until it has been partially digested and rendered into chyme
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the corresponding digestive organ in invertebrates
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the abdominal region
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desire, appetite, or inclination
I have no stomach for arguments
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an archaic word for temper
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an obsolete word for pride
verb
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to tolerate; bear
I can't stomach his bragging
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to eat or digest
he cannot stomach oysters
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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stomachsimple
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stomachssimple
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have stomachedperfect
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has stomachedperfect
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am stomachingprogressive
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are stomachingprogressive
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is stomachingprogressive
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have been stomachingperfect progressive
-
has been stomachingperfect progressive
Past
-
stomachedsimple
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had stomachedperfect
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was stomachingprogressive
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were stomachingprogressive
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had been stomachingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of stomach
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English stomak, from Latin stomachus “gullet, stomach,” from Greek stómachos originally, “opening”; akin to stoma
Explanation
The stomach is the organ of your body — kind of a big sac — that digests food. We also say people have a stomach for something unpleasant when they can handle it. Without a stomach, you'd be in trouble: that's where your food gets digested and turned into useful material your body can use for energy. If you ever got punched in the stomach or had a stomach ache, it can hurt a lot. Also, stomach can mean having a hunger, or at least tolerance, for something. If you can't stomach watching football, then you can't stand watching it. If you have a stomach for something, you can swallow it.
Vocabulary lists containing stomach
Nutrition and Digestion - Introductory
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Nutrition and Digestion - High School
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Nutrition and Digestion - Middle School
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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:
It is borne heavily by spouses and parents, who watch the news with a knot in their stomach, worrying endlessly about the physical safety, mental strain and welfare of their loved ones.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026
More than a month after returning to the Continental Divide Trail, my mom came down with a severe stomach virus, which my father caught a few days later.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 15, 2026
Although overeating might seem like a problem that begins in the stomach, appetite is largely regulated by the brain.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 13, 2026
Vultures' powerful stomach acids allow them to safely consume infected animals, helping stop diseases such as anthrax and rabies from spreading.
From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026
As we turned the corner and it came into view, my stomach seemed to fall out of me.
From "Code Name Kingfisher" by Liz Kessler
The chief vet of Kenya's Wildlife Service, Dr Isaac Lekolool, told us that they had found traces of cyanide in samples taken from the elephants' stomachs.
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026
Interestingly, the number of Chinook and coho salmon found in pike stomachs dropped over the past decade.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 25, 2026
Towards the end, the whole body of dancers becomes engaged, menacing as they approach, their tense stomachs flexing as if hungry.
From Barron's ● Feb. 25, 2026
Patients who went under the knife late last year are now debuting tighter skin, flatter stomachs and lifted eyelids to their social networks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 7, 2026
Slimy pink intestines coiled over his wide face and draped around his neck; sagging sacks of stomachs and bloated bags of bowels dangled from his torso.
From "City of the Plague God" by Sarwat Chadda
Sam Harris and his wife stomached a high mortgage rate to close on a house in Georgia in April.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026
And the Pac-12 championship defeat to the Utes could be easily stomached due to Williams’ hamstring injury which limited his transcendence for one half.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 15, 2023
McDonald's engineered a relatively smooth sale to Govor for an undisclosed fee, but stomached a non-cash charge of $1.4 billion and forfeited $300 million in annual operating income.
From Reuters ● Dec. 16, 2022
If they had, I could have stomached it more,” said Jill Roberts, who co-owns a wine bar in downtown Helena, Mont. “It came out of left field.”
From New York Times ● May 15, 2021
Valdicampo, who for the honour of having a Duke sleep beneath his roof would have stomached improprieties far more flagrant, belittled the matter and dismissed it.
From Love-at-Arms by Rafael Sabatini
Yet many workers aren’t so sure; they’re having a hard time stomaching the uncertainty.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 10, 2026
Investing in an IPO means stomaching the potential for volatility in early trading.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 5, 2026
And after stomaching a bombardment of body blows, the Huskies were unable to answer, producing back-to-back punts in the second half.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 18, 2023
“And, with transit not given the priority and service to get Angelenos to many destinations reliably, many are left stomaching higher gas prices instead.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 14, 2022
The local returns of dead rats were not made by the bills of mortality, but by the bills of fare: it was getting rid of a nuisance by the unheard-of process of stomaching a nuisance!
From Rambles Beyond Railways; or, Notes in Cornwall taken A-foot by Wilkie Collins
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.
