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Glite Dictionary
the shits

the shits

11 9.9
A sudden attack of very loose, watery poo
  • idiom
  • /ðə ʃɪts/
  • Offensive
translation icon : cagadera (vulg.)
  • She was worried about getting the shits during the long flight after the spicy meal.

Examples

  • After eating that questionable taco, I ended up with the shits all night.

  • "I got the shits—begging your pardon, First Sergeant, the runs—again," Granbury Proctor said.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • The doctor advised him to avoid dairy, as it often triggers the shits for him.

Synonyms

the trots
vsthe shits
  • Offensive
2 9.9

Very loose, watery bowel movements that happen often

emphasizes a sudden or severe episode rather than frequency or looseness

Antonyms

constipation
18 3.4

Difficulty passing hard or infrequent stools that may be painful

How Severe

the shits
  • Offensive
11 9.9
diarrhea
  • US
81 2.1
the trots
  • Offensive
2 9.9
movement
  • Formal
19 7.3

Surface Forms

the shits singular
the shits plural

Morphology

the + shit

The lexical connection to 'shit' (feces) makes it clear the expression refers to bowel-related trouble, so learners will grasp the general bodily domain, but the specific meaning ‘an episode of diarrhea’ is a slangy, idiomatic extension of the noun and not strictly compositional. Its vulgar, colloquial usage and the particular construction 'the shits' require familiarity with conversational English, so it is only partially predictable from the parts.

Etymology

The slang the shits probably comes from the plain word shit, meaning 'poop', and the plural image of many loose poops and quick trips to the toilet makes the phrase vivid. So it means 'an episode of diarrhea'.