guano

noun gua·no \ ˈgwä-(ˌ)nō \

|Updated on: 18 Jul 2018

Definition of guano

: a fertilizer containing the accumulated excrement of seabirds or bats; broadly : excrement especially of seabirds or bats

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Recent Examples of guano from the Web

Their guano adds the nutrient nitrogen to the islands, leading to big changes in the ecosystem.

— jason daley, Smithsonian, "Coral Reefs Need Fewer Rats and More Bird Poo," 12 July 2018
The Incas used guano harvested from islands that dot Peru’s 1,500-mile coastline as fertilizer.

— Washington Post, "The unlikely treasure off Peru’s coast," 21 June 2018
The harvest target this year is about 20,000 tons of guano.

— Washington Post, "The unlikely treasure off Peru’s coast," 21 June 2018
New buds sprang eternal from the guano heap of Twitter, and thus continued the Outrage Circle of Life.

— New York Times, "News of an ‘Outrage’ Used to Mean Something Very, Very Different," 23 May 2018
Around the same time, Vogt was hired to study a baffling decline in seabird guano, then widely used as fertilizer.

— BostonGlobe.com, "Biographies highlight some key figures in environmentalism," 27 Apr. 2018
The crew's nightly flight in search of food, once an awe-inspiring festival of guano and flapping wings, was just a skeleton of its former self.

— craig hlavaty, Houston Chronicle, "Months after Harvey, see how the bat colony is faring at Waugh bridge," 17 Apr. 2018
Another perk: bat droppings, otherwise known as guano, act as a nutrient-dense fertilizer, making that garden of yours thrive like never before.

— emily o'brien, Good Housekeeping, "5 Ways To Attract Bats To Your Yard," 20 Oct. 2016
Usually just by seeing them or the piles of guano that are left under their roost site.

— margeaux sippell, BostonGlobe.com, "Little brown bats are dying; why we should care," 16 Apr. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'guano.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of guano

Spanish, from Quechua wanu fertilizer, dung

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First Known Use: 1604

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GUANO Defined for English Language Learners

guano

noun

Definition of guano for English Language Learners

: waste material from birds and bats that is used to help plants grow

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