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bowel movement

bowel movement

13 3.2
Passing waste from your body
  • noun
  • /ˈbaʊəl ˈmuːvmənt/
  • Specialized
translation icon : defecación
  • What happens if I have a bowel movement?
  • about 25% of bowel movements
  • 25% of bowel movements

So I typically feel my bowel movements are normal.

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Examples

  • Have your bowel movements started to return to normal?

    Fiction book (1995)
  • People often disregard the signs that they need to have a bowel movement and further irritate their digestive system.

    Blog text (20)
  • Has the child started eating something new? Does the pain get better after eating or having a bowel movement?

    Academic text (2014)
  • So I typically feel my bowel movements are normal.

  • Tell me about your bowel movements.

  • How are your bowel movements?

  • Do you look at your bowel movements before you flush the toilet?

  • I haven't had a bowel movement in six days.

  • Straining during bowel movements is the number one cause of hemorrhoids, and it also worsens existing ones.

    Blog text (26)
  • Have you had a bowel movement today?

Synonyms

movement
vsbowel movement
  • Formal
19 7.3

Passing solid waste from the body

is a plain descriptive term rather than a polite medical label
defecation
vsbowel movement
  • Formal
4 5.1

Passing solid waste out of the body through the anus

is about passing waste matter from inside the body, not only solids
bm
vsbowel movement
  • NSFW
1 9.9

A person's poop that comes out when they go to the toilet

is the full neutral phrase rather than an abbreviation or casual shorthand
laxation
vsbowel movement
  • Specialized
9.9

The passing of solid waste from the body through the anus

is the single act of passing waste rather than a longer process

Antonyms

18 3.4

Difficulty passing hard or infrequent stools that may be painful

How Frequent

bowel movement
  • Specialized
13 3.2
constipation
18 3.4
irregularity
  • Specialized
1 7.2
obstipation
  • Specialized
9.9

Surface Forms

Morphology

bowel + movement

The phrase literally combines 'bowel' (intestine) with 'movement' (an act of moving), so a learner who knows both words can infer it refers to some motion of the intestines. However, the conventionalized clinical meaning 'the act of passing waste/defecation' is a specific collocation that may not be fully predictable without exposure, so it is only partially transparent to a B1 learner.

Etymology

Bowel movement comes from a simple picture: the bowel, the intestine, makes a movement to push waste out of the body. So, it means 'the act of passing waste from the bowel out of the body'.