guano

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noun gua·no \ ˈgwä-(ˌ)nō \

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

Although its hunchback X6 counterpart is marginally quicker and grippier, the X5 M remains a genetic marker for when SUV evolution went full guano.

— mike sutton, Car and Driver, "2017 BMW X5 M," 26 July 2017
There was storks and vultures kind of roosting along the trees and defecating, so certain trees were covered in guano ...

— diana crow, Smithsonian, "The Upside of Rotting Carcasses," 25 July 2017
Scientists believe that humans usually contract it directly from bat guano, from eating bats or from eating primates that have died of Ebola.

— kimiko de freytas-tamura, New York Times, "Ebola Outbreak Is Declared in Congo, With at Least 3 Dead," 12 May 2017
An international team of researchers recently mapped the history of the penguin colony by taking a look at their of guano—or bird poop.

— jason daley, Smithsonian, "A Penguin Colony’s Rise and Fall, Recorded in Poop," 13 Apr. 2017
In that guano, scientists have found the record of a recurring natural historical drama.

— james gorman, New York Times, "In Ancient Guano, a Record of Penguin Disaster," 11 Apr. 2017
The new study centers on Ardley Island, part of the South Shetland chain, which is home to a gentoo colony that, for millennia, has been contributing its guano to the local lake.

— marcia bjornerud, The New Yorker, "A Tale of Cataclysm, Written in Penguin Guano," 11 Apr. 2017
Dr. Roberts said the team of scientists did not set out to study guano.

— james gorman, New York Times, "In Ancient Guano, a Record of Penguin Disaster," 11 Apr. 2017
Fertilizer as good as bat guano for high-alkaline soil.

— wired staff, WIRED, "Go Your Own way," 1 Nov. 2005

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.