number two

noun

plural number twos

informal : solid waste from the body : feces

—used euphemistically

So, why is the brand new pool off limits on such a busy day? Mia Venesky, 9, volunteered to explain the delicate dilemma. She said, "The pool is closed because someone went number two in the pool."

—Suzanne Goldklang

Once a dog who has parvovirus goes number two on the ground, the disease stays there for about six years, according to Dr. Payne.

—Kaylee Olivas

compare number one sense 2

Examples of number two in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Trump has prioritized breaking China’s stranglehold on the global supply of rare earths ever since the world’s number two economy sharply restricted who could buy them after the United States imposed widespread tariffs last spring. —Josh Funk, Fortune, 11 Jan. 2026

More than a decade later, in January 2024, Acebedo-Garcia met with Wedding and his number two, a 35-year-old former Toronto elevator mechanic named Andrew Clark, at a Starbucks in one of Mexico City’s most upscale neighborhoods, called Santa Fe. —Jesse Hyde, Rolling Stone, 10 Jan. 2026

Number one, the hand with the phone is going down, and number two, the hand with the gun is coming up. —Ted Johnson, Deadline, 9 Jan. 2026

My number one priority was finding a storage bed, and my number two priority was finding one that wasn’t ugly, which felt surprisingly hard in this design climate. —Audrey Lee, Architectural Digest, 7 Jan. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1902, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for number two

• amadou
• avenue
• ballyhoo
• baraboo
• barbecue
• barbeque
• bugaboo
• cabildo
• caribou
• cockatoo
• detinue
• devalue