Definitions

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

  • noun The portion of the digestive tract extending from the stomach to the anus and, in humans and other mammals, consisting of two segments, the small intestine and the large intestine.
  • adjective Internal; civil.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Internal; inward; pertaining to the interior part of something.
  • Inner; innate; inborn.
  • Internal with regard to a company, community, or nation; domestic: usually applied to what is evil: as, intestine feuds.
  • noun In anatomy, the lower part of the alimentary canal, extending from the pyloric end of the stomach to the anus; gut; bowel: in popular use usually in the plural: the guts; bowels; entrails.

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

  • adjective Internal; inward; -- opposed to external.
  • adjective Internal with regard to a state or country; domestic; not foreign; -- applied usually to that which is evil
  • adjective Depending upon the internal constitution of a body or entity; subjective.
  • adjective rare Shut up; inclosed.
  • noun (Anat.) That part of the alimentary canal between the stomach and the anus. See Illust. of Digestive apparatus.
  • noun The bowels; entrails; viscera.
  • noun (Human Anat. & Med.) the lower portion of the bowel, terminating at the anus. It is adapted for the retention of fecal matter, being shorter, broader, and less convoluted than the small intestine; it consists of three parts, the cæcum, colon, and rectum.
  • noun (Human Anat. & Med.) the upper portion of the bowel, in which the process of digestion is practically completed. It is narrow and contorted, and consists of three parts, the duodenum, jejunum, and ileum.

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

  • noun anatomy, often pluralized The alimentary canal of an animal through which food passes after having passed all stomachs.
  • noun One of certain subdivisions of this part of the alimentary canal, such as the small or large intestine in human beings.
  • adjective Domestic; taking place within a given country or region.
  • adjective obsolete Internal.

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

  • noun the part of the alimentary canal between the stomach and the anus

Etymologies

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

[Middle English, from Old French intestin, from Latin intestīna, intestines, from neuter pl. of intestīnus, internal, from intus, within; see en in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin intestīnum, neuter of intestīnus ("internal"), as Etymology 2, below.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin intestīnus ("internal"), from intus ("within").

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Examples

  • This bowel tube, or intestine, which, on account of its length, is arranged in coils, finally delivers the undigested remains of the food into a somewhat larger tube called the _large intestine_, in the lower and back part of the body, where its remaining moisture is sucked out of it, and its solid waste material passed out of the body through the _rectum_ in the form of the _feces_.

    A Handbook of Health Woods Hutchinson 1896

  • A congenital defect in which part of the intestine is completely blocked or absent.

    Glossary 2010

  • The human intestine is 22ft long, and yet humans are only 6ft tall.

    Solar Dreams, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty 2009

  • Your intestine is long and pocketed unlike meat eating animals where it is short and smooth, your teeth are not designed for ripping and chewing carcass, you have no claws, nor speed that is why you have to purchase thousands of dollars worth of equipment such as tree stands, bait, lures, fake female, "buck in heat" and of course the weapon to do your killing.

    New Jersey Approves Crossbows For Archery Deer 2009

  • The largest group of probiotic bacteria in the intestine is lactic acid bacteria, of which Lactobacillus acidophilus, found in yogurt and keifer is the best known.

    Archive 2007-04-01 Steve Carper 2007

  • The largest group of probiotic bacteria in the intestine is lactic acid bacteria, of which Lactobacillus acidophilus, found in yogurt and kefir is the best known.

    Archive 2007-03-01 Steve Carper 2007

  • The largest group of probiotic bacteria in the intestine is lactic acid bacteria, of which Lactobacillus acidophilus, found in yogurt and keifer is the best known.

    The Power of Probiotics Steve Carper 2007

  • The largest group of probiotic bacteria in the intestine is lactic acid bacteria, of which Lactobacillus acidophilus, found in yogurt and kefir is the best known.

    Primer on Probiotics Steve Carper 2007

  • The bad news: the endoscopy showed that Buster's entire stomach, small intestine and large intestine is "grossly diseased".

    buster update 2005

  • She had intestinal blockage and had a nasty upper-respiratory infection when she was nine weeks old, and when they spayed her at Bide-a-Wee, they also cleared the blockage, which means her intestine is shortened, so she has to eat special food.

    Aoki is home terri_osborne 2004

Comments

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  • One seldom encounters the adjectival use of this word, to mean inner, innate, internal.

    November 28, 2011

  • Shut up.

    November 28, 2011

  • A museulomembranous tube invested with a peritoneal coat.

    November 29, 2011