diarrhea
Contents
EnglishEdit
Alternative formsEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Middle French diarrie (French diarrhée), from Late Latin diarrhoea, from Ancient Greek διάρροια (diárrhoia, “through-flowing”), from διά (diá, “through”) + ῥέω (rhéō, “flow”). Spelling later altered to resemble the word's Latin and Greek roots.
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
diarrhea (countable and uncountable, plural diarrheas)
- A gastrointestinal disorder characterized by frequent and very fluid or watery bowel movements.
- (chiefly US, Britain) The watery or very soft excrement that comes from such bowel movements.
- 2008, Danna Korn and Connie Sarros, Gluten-Free Cooking for Dummies, Chapter 1:
- My Pampers bill is higher than your paycheck, my hands are raw from washing them every six minutes, and I do eight loads of laundry a day because everything we own is covered in diarrhea, and you want me to "plug him up" and wait another three weeks?
- 2009, Daniel Everett, Don't Sleep, There Are Snakes[1], page 47:
- I looked and saw that she and her hammock were covered in diarrhea.
- 2014, L. A. Knight, Dog Training the American Male, 221:
- Why was she covered in diarrhea?
- 2008, Danna Korn and Connie Sarros, Gluten-Free Cooking for Dummies, Chapter 1:
Usage notesEdit
- Diarrhea is the American and Canadian spelling; diarrhoea is the British spelling.
SynonymsEdit
- (medical condition): the runs, the shits, the squirts (US), the trots, the squits (both UK), the skitters (Scottish and Northern English) (all slang)
- See also Thesaurus:diarrhea
HyponymsEdit
- Montezuma's revenge (informal)
- Pharao's revenge (informal)
Related termsEdit
TranslationsEdit
medical condition
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watery excrement
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