bowel movement

noun

plural bowel movements

: an act of passing usually solid waste through the rectum and anus

He had a two-day history of right lower abdominal pain … without bowel movements.

—William W. Scott, Jr. et al.

also : fecal matter expelled at one passage : stool sense 3a

Cats get infected from contact with other cats' bowel movements or by predation.

—Donald Caslow

Examples of bowel movement in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

As Farhadi notes, from a physiological perspective, the fact that exercise can be so good for bowel movements might seem counterintuitive. —Julia Sullivan, Outside, 26 Mar. 2026

Dysmenorrhea, dyspareunia, dyschezia (pain with bowel movement), and dysuria (pain with urination) are not required as a full constellation. —Sarah Berg, STAT, 26 Mar. 2026

Experts explain the most common side effects affecting bowel movements below. —Nicole Hernandez, USA Today, 25 Mar. 2026

Each joke is more unremarkable than the last and likely to slip out of one’s memory cleanly like a high-fiber bowel movement. —Eric Vilas-Boas, Vulture, 18 Mar. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1870, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for bowel movement

• improvement

Kids Definition

bowel movement

noun

: an act of passing usually solid waste through the rectum and anus

also : fecal matter expelled at one passage : stool

Medical Definition

bowel movement

noun

: an act of passing usually solid waste through the rectum and anus