Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The terminal portion of the large intestine, extending from the sigmoid colon to the anal canal.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In anatomy and zoology, a terminal section of the intestine, ending in the anus: so called from its comparatively straight course in man; the lower bowel: more fully called intestinum rectum.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Anat.) The terminal part of the large intestine; -- so named because supposed by the old anatomists to be straight. See Illust. under digestive.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun anatomy The terminal part of the large intestine through which feces pass.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the terminal section of the alimentary canal; from the sigmoid flexure to the anus

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from Latin (intestīnum) rēctum, straight (intestine), neuter of rēctus; see reg- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From New Latin rectum, abbreviation of Latin rectum intestinum ("the straight intestine"), rectum, neuter of rectus ("straight"). See right.

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Examples

Comments

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  • added only so I could comment: "Rectum? Hell! Killed 'im." Ah, the salad days of grade-school bus-ride jokes.

    December 31, 2006

  • You do surprise me!

    October 1, 2007