Definition

1. Noun:
   • Waste matter discharged from the body: Solid or liquid waste material, especially feces, expelled from the body after digestion.
   • The product of excretion: The material that is eliminated from the body as a result of metabolic processes.

Usage

• General Use: The word "excrement" is a formal, technical, or scientific term for bodily waste, particularly feces. It is often used in medical, biological, or formal contexts.
• Register: It is a neutral, non-vulgar term, though it may be considered blunt or clinical in everyday conversation. It is more formal than "poop" or "crap" but less formal than "feces" or "stool" in medical jargon.

Examples

• Noun:
  • The laboratory analyzed the animal's excrement for signs of disease.
  • Proper sanitation requires the safe disposal of human excrement.
  • The smell was traced to a pile of excrement behind the barn.

Advanced Usage

• "Excrementitious" (adjective): Of or relating to excrement.
  • The excrementitious matter was carefully examined.
• Used in figurative or literary contexts to describe something worthless or vile.
  • He dismissed the criticism as intellectual excrement.

Variants and Related Words

• Excreta (noun, plural): Waste matter discharged from the body, including both feces and urine. This is a more technical, collective term.
  • The study monitored the chemical composition of the subjects' excreta.
• Excrete (verb): To separate and discharge (waste matter) from the body.
  • The kidneys excrete urine.
• Excretion (noun): The process of excreting waste matter from the body.
  • The excretion of toxins is a vital bodily function.

Synonyms

• Feces: The more common formal/scientific term for solid excrement.
• Stool: A common medical term for feces, especially for diagnostic purposes.
• Dung: The excrement of animals, especially large ones.
• Manure: Animal excrement used for fertilizing land.
• Droppings: The excrement of small animals or birds.

Antonyms

• Nutrient: A substance that provides nourishment essential for growth.
• Food: Material consumed for nutritional support.

Idioms and Phrases

• No direct idioms use the word "excrement" itself. However, many vulgar idioms use synonyms (e.g., "in deep shit"). The formal nature of "excrement" makes it uncommon in idiomatic expressions.

Noun

1. waste matter (as urine or sweat but especially feces) discharged from the body