Definitions

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

  • noun A rumbling noise produced by the movement of gas through the intestines.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The rumbling noise caused by wind within the intestines.

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

  • noun A rumbling sound made by the movement of gas in the intestines.

Etymologies

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

[New Latin, from Greek borborugmos, of imitative origin.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Greek βορβορυγμος (onomatopoeia).

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Examples

  • He said he'd always liked the word borborygmus and looked at me expectantly.

    VERBATIM: The Language Quarterly Vol IV No 2 1977

  • I want to apologize for my "borborygmus" and be called out for my "fribbling."

    NPR Topics: News 2010

  • I want to apologize for my "borborygmus" and be called out for my "fribbling."

    NPR Topics: News 2010

  • I want to apologize for my "borborygmus" and be called out for my "fribbling."

    NPR Topics: News 2010

  • I want to apologize for my "borborygmus" and be called out for my "fribbling."

    NPR Topics: News 2010

  • Nostalgia, which we are apt to sneer at as a doctor's name for homesickness, and to class with cachexy and borborygmus, was a power for evil in those days, and some of our finest troops were thinned out by it, notoriously the

    The Creed of the Old South 1865-1915 1877

  • On the way up, we began to develop that borborygmus-inducing Hearty Appetite that comes from sitting in a car for two hours, and so we began casting about for a place to enjoy a spot of luncheon.

    Blog d'Elisson 2009

  • Food intolerance is a non-immunologic response that can trigger such symptoms as gassiness, vomiting, diarrhea and borborygmus -- also known as stomach growling -- according to Korrin Saker, DMV, associate professor of clinical nutrition at North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine.

    unknown title 2009

Comments

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  • A rumbling noise produced by the movement of gas through the intestines. Plural "borborygmi"

    April 3, 2008

  • ... and this, too, belongs on reesetee's "It Has a Name?" list.

    April 3, 2008

  • Odd. I could swear I'd already added it....But it's there now. :-)

    April 3, 2008

  • Is there a term for hunger sounds?

    March 28, 2009

  • "Although this muscle contraction happens whether or not food is present, it is more common after the animal has gone several hours without eating. This may be why a "growling" stomach is often associated with hunger." -wiki

    June 17, 2009

  • JM always smiles when borborygmus strikes someone in an elevator and they attribute it to brontide

    December 14, 2009

  • The Borborygmus Song?

    January 23, 2010