Bowel

//ˈbaʊ.əl// noun, verb

noun, verb ·Uncommon ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A part or division of the intestines, usually the large intestine.
  2. 2
    the part of the alimentary canal between the stomach and the anus wordnet
  3. 3
    The entrails or intestines; the internal organs of the stomach. in-plural

    "And when he was hanged, brast asondre in the myddes, and all his bowels gusshed out."

  4. 4
    The (deep) interior of something. figuratively, in-plural

    "The treasures were stored in the bowels of the ship."

  5. 5
    The seat of pity or the gentler emotions; pity or mercy. archaic, in-plural

    "Thou thing of no bowels, thou!"

Show 1 more definition
  1. 6
    offspring in-plural, obsolete

    "Friend hast thou none, / For thine own bowels, which do call thee sire,"

Verb
  1. 1
    To disembowel. archaic

    "Their bodies are first bowelled, then dried upon hurdles till they be very dry [...]."

Synonyms

All synonyms
eviscerategutintestineintestinepaunch

Example

More examples

"I have not had a bowel movement for a week."

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French bouel, from Old French boïel, from Latin botellus, diminutive of botulus (“sausage”). Doublet of boyau.

Related phrases

book bowelbook bowel tendencybowel cancerbowel movementbowel obstructionbowel transit timegay bowel syndromeget one's bowels in an uproarinflammatory bowel diseaseirritable bowel syndromelarge bowelopen one's bowels

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.