guano
9
8.6
- noun
- /ˈɡwɑːnoʊ/
:
guano
- About a mile into the cave, the air is warm and thick from the decaying bat guano that coats the floor.
- bat guano
- bird guano
I want to grab just a little sprinkling, a little dusting of bat guano.
- I want to grab just a little sprinkling, a little dusting of bat guano.
- OK, first of all, when bats, you know, drop guano, they do it when they're flying through the air and it drops down onto the ground.
- And all those geese, you know, the guano and droppings, everything, it's they're all out there by the river and all that stuff is being washed in.
Examples
-
In pursuit of knowledge, Nina had crawled through piles of bat guano and lairs guarded by bad-tempered scorpions.
Fiction book (2000) -
The birds strip off foliage for nesting material, and plants are killed by the accumulation of guano, which is acidic.
Academic text (2009) -
The way to fix this is to add nitrogen back into the soil, which is where bird guano comes in.
-
The birds were eaten, and their guano was used as fertilizer.
Academic text (2008) -
Guano was prized as an agricultural fertilizer.
-
A dusty, acrid odor of guano tinges the air.
Academic text (2009) -
Lichens, algae, mosses, and bird guano deposits that cause deterioration
Academic text (2009) -
There's a pile of guano by the chimney, where the bats hang, and a neat little pile of delicate bones - mice.
Fiction book (2002) -
To be surrounded by the expanse of their colony, the air filled with their strident calls and the pungent odor of guano, leaves a lasting impression.
Academic text (2008) -
Farmers often use guano as a natural fertilizer due to its rich nitrogen content.
Compounds
- US
A common bat with short soft fur found in the southern United States that flies south in winter
How Nutrient-Rich
Surface Forms
Etymology
The word guano comes from the Quechua word wanu, meaning 'fertilizer', and came into Spanish as guano. So today guano means the droppings of sea birds, bats, or seals that people use as a natural 'fertilizer' to make soil rich.