Definitions

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

  • noun A person regarded as very disagreeable.
  • noun Excrement.
  • intransitive verb To defecate.
  • intransitive verb To defecate in (one's clothes or bed, for example).
  • transitive verb To cause to become fatigued; tire.
  • noun An enclosed superstructure at the stern of a ship.
  • noun A poop deck.
  • transitive verb To break over the stern of (a ship). Used of a wave.
  • transitive verb To take (a wave) over the stern.
  • noun Inside information.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In architecture, a poppyhead.
  • Nautical, to break heavily over the stern or quarter of (a ship); drive in the stern of.
  • To trick; cheat; cozen.
  • noun An act of breaking wind.
  • noun The stern or aftermost part of a ship.
  • noun A deck above the ordinary deck in the aftermost part of a ship.
  • To break wind.

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

  • noun (Naut.) A deck raised above the after part of a vessel; the hindmost or after part of a vessel's hull; also, a cabin covered by such a deck. See Poop deck, under deck. See also roundhouse.
  • noun (Arch.) See 2d poppy.
  • transitive verb To break over the poop or stern, as a wave.
  • transitive verb To strike in the stern, as by collision.
  • intransitive verb To make a noise; to pop; also, to break wind.

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

  • verb intransitive To defecate.
  • noun The sound of a steam engine's whistle; typically low pitch.
  • noun US, dated information, facts.
  • noun The stern of a ship.
  • verb transitive To break seawater with the poop of a vessel, especially the poop deck.
  • verb transitive To ship over the stern
  • noun A slothful person.
  • noun A set of data or general information, written or spoken, usually concerning machinery or a process.

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

  • noun a stupid foolish person
  • noun obscene terms for feces
  • noun the rear part of a ship
  • noun slang terms for inside information

Etymologies

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

[Perhaps short for nincompoop.]

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

[Possibly from obsolete poop, to break wind, from Middle English poupen, to blow a horn, toot, of imitative origin.]

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

[Origin unknown.]

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

[Middle English poupe, from Old French, from Latin puppis.]

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

[Origin unknown.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Origin uncertain, perhaps sound imitation.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Origin uncertain, possibly from Middle English poupen.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Recorded since circa 1405, from Middle French poupe, from Italian poppa, from Latin puppis, all meaning "stern of a ship".

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Origin uncertain, perhaps a shortening of nincompoop.

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Examples

Comments

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  • "The milkwhite dolphin tossed his mane and, rising in the golden poop, the helmsman spread the bellying sail upon the wind and stood off forward with all sail set, the spinnaker to larboard."

    Joyce, Ulysses, 12

    January 13, 2007

  • I just had a revelation concerning the word poop... it's a lousy noun but a kick-awesome verb.

    October 25, 2007

  • I'm so happy for you, uselessness. :-D

    October 25, 2007

  • I came across my absolute favorite usage of this word at work (I swear), because I had to replace it (in the phrase "poop deck") in a text having to do with the slave trade that was going to be read by a bunch of 5th-graders.

    You can see why it had to be replaced. The slave trade is not funny, but 10-year-olds would be so distracted by the word... anyway. Looking for when the meaning came to mean... you know... poop... I found this usage in the OED:

    c1744 in Oxf. Dict. Nursery Rhymes (1951) 372:

    Little Robin red breast,

    Sitting on a pole,

    Niddle, Noddle, Went his head,

    And Poop went his Hole.

    October 25, 2007

  • Wow, in that way it's almost onomatopoeic. *does that finger-in-cheek popping noise thing*

    October 25, 2007

  • I know that poem!

    Good grief; why am I admitting that?

    October 25, 2007

  • "Marilyn Manson says you should shoot your friends in the head with a gun! And everyone should eat babies! And rape their dead grandparents! And poop on a church!"

    - The Onion, January 31, 2001

    October 25, 2007

  • I bet that nursery rhyme is about impalement.

    n.b. You took the poop out of poop deck, CB?! For shame!

    October 25, 2007

  • Oh come on, it's not about impalement. Robins' heads *always* go "Niddle, Noddle." Listen next time you see a robin, and just SEE if you don't hear those exact words (with that exact punctuation).

    I admit, I did take the poop out of poop deck. Or, not really, since the original sentence read something like, "Men were fed on the quarterdeck, women and children on the poop."

    I remember it didn't even say poop deck, which changed its meaning entirely (from a modern perspective).

    October 25, 2007

  • Gross. Never, never feed me on the poop.

    October 25, 2007

  • C_B, if you think "poop" would set off 5th graders, imagine the reaction that a social studies unit called "Westward 'Ho" would get from middle schoolers. I warned the teacher, but did she listen?...

    October 25, 2007

  • Skipvia, how did you guess my rap name?!

    October 25, 2007

  • I'm going away now.

    October 25, 2007

  • Ladies and gentleman... Chuck Berry.

    October 25, 2007

  • I thought chained_bear was your rap name. Mine is flaming twit. I don't exactly roll with the gangstas.

    But--I'm an officer in Facebook's Wordie group. Match that!

    October 25, 2007

  • Ah, Chuck Berry--probably our finest rock poet (unless it's Smokey Robinson).

    October 25, 2007

  • Er, skipvia--we're all officers in Facebook's Wordie group.

    Signed, Pharaoh Moohlah

    (What? That's what the Rapper Name Generator said.)

    October 25, 2007

  • Dang. So, reesetee--do we get cool hats or anything? Ooh--could I have a sword?

    October 25, 2007

  • OK, reesetee. I have a rap name now. You may call me *wait for it* T-Scratch!

    *adjusts bling and makes strange hand gestures, being careful not to harm LCD monitor or poke self in eye*

    October 25, 2007

  • i'm paroxysming with the giggles over here. if you guys can do so much with poop, I can only imagine what a discussion of boob might lead to.

    singed: the dyslexic dood

    October 25, 2007

  • Knowing c_b, probably right back to poop...:)

    October 25, 2007

  • Hey, it's uselessness who had the revelation! I just had an excuse to type in a really bad short poem about bird poo.

    Hey... is there a special word for bird poo?

    And by the way, boob is just poop upside-down. Wait... that's gross.

    P.S. My Mafia name is Junior Mint.

    October 25, 2007

  • Sionnach, be careful what you say around here--you may have launched a boob discussion by now!

    Skipvia: Sure, sure, you can have a hat (note to John: skipvia wants a Wordie hat). Even a sword, as long as it's fake (note to John: I wouldn't if I were you). But T-Scratch? Do you need ointment? ;->

    October 25, 2007

  • Guano, c_b. But it's only used in reference to sea birds.

    October 25, 2007

  • Or bats.

    October 25, 2007

  • Right. Thank you, trivet, for your gentle reminders that animals other than birds actually do exist. ;-) (I tend to get a little single-minded on the subject.)

    October 25, 2007

  • 'S okay, R, I do love to commentate.

    Hey, C_b - do you have mutes on your special poo list? I think they're specific to birds of prey. Also, whitewash.

    October 25, 2007

  • Thought I saw mutes on that list. Signed, Too Lazy to Check.

    October 25, 2007

  • Whitewash, trivet? I can't find that definition for that word.

    I did find mutes, or more specifically mutess, in the OED, but it's a verb. I added it anyway. And also mute. Who knew mute meant a specific kind of excrement?

    Well... trivet did, apparently.

    October 25, 2007

  • I've heard whitewash used to describe generic bird poop. Is that how you've heard it, trivet?

    I can't believe I'm discussing this. ;-)

    October 25, 2007

  • Welcome to the dark side of Wordie, reesetee. :)

    October 25, 2007

  • Yup! Heard first at a raptor rehab center, but also out in the world of bird nerds.

    October 25, 2007

  • You think I was on the light side, skipvia? ;-)

    Trivet, count me as a total bird nerd. Guilty as charged, and happy about it!

    October 25, 2007

  • We've gotten away from poop here. I just thought I'd point that out.

    You're welcome.

    October 27, 2007

  • Well, who's fault was that? Oh...mine. Sorry (ish).

    October 27, 2007

  • Nah, no problem. Probably everyone's relieved.

    OH! OH! I made a horrible pun!!! It was *totally* not on purpose!!

    *hides in shame*

    October 27, 2007

  • NO! That's a great pun! I wish I had made it. *still giggling*

    October 27, 2007

  • Plus, we're talking about poop again.

    October 27, 2007

  • It is a kick-awesome verb, wouldn't you say?

    October 28, 2007

  • I went to Lowe's today and saw a beat-up old blue pickup in the lot with some junk lumber in the back. Its bumper sticker read:

    I'm only speeding because I really have to poop.

    October 28, 2007

  • Gosh, c_b, I think I want to retire in your area!

    October 28, 2007

  • :)

    January 20, 2008

  • Yet another hilarious usage of poop:

    "'I believe we may attack the adagio directly,' said Stephen. 'The wind is in our poop, and we have never played better.'"

    --P. O'Brian, The Commodore, 64

    (This one made my spawn, who happened to be looking over my shoulder, giggle out loud in a courtroom.)

    But this one's even better:

    "'So she is the Bellona, the chief argosy of your command! ... Why, I declare, she has a poop, which adds much to her dignity.'"

    Wait! Wait! It goes on:

    "'When you are on the quarterdeck in a hot action with a really malignant enemy firing great guns and small arms, it is a wonderful comfort to have a solid poop behind you.'"

    --P. O'Brian, The Commodore, 70

    March 16, 2008

  • You read Wordie in courtrooms?

    March 18, 2008

  • ...with your spawn?

    March 18, 2008

  • No, but I read O'Brian in a courtroom with my spawn. Wordie isn't as portable. (No cell phones, etc. allowed)

    Where, might I say, it is wonderful comfort to have a solid poop behind you.

    March 18, 2008

  • Wow. That's...really weird, chained_bear. Though I daresay that poop usually doesn't add much to one's dignity, despite what O'Brian says.

    March 19, 2008

  • It's always good to have a poop behind you...unless it was an unexpected poop! ;o)

    March 19, 2008

  • Exactly, oroboros. Not in front of you, but behind you. And a solid poop, not a... well, nevermind.

    March 19, 2008

  • I have found a Poopy Song. Here it is, in all its poopy glory.

    March 20, 2008

  • *leaves the room*

    March 20, 2008

  • Kay, a red nude, pooped under a yak.

    October 18, 2008

  • That's poetry, bilby.

    October 18, 2008

  • Well, pooetry, anyway.

    October 18, 2008

  • That's so, so something, I'm gonna put it in my Dyslexic's Delight list!

    October 18, 2008

  • Poetry In Motion, Asa'.

    October 19, 2008

  • Stop saying poop! ACK!

    February 12, 2009

  • Another excellent usage encountered, thanks to my iPod:

    "There on the poop, our gallant captain stands

    Staring at the cross-trees, a spyglass in his hands.

    What he is thinking of, we all know very well:

    He's thinking more of shortening sail than strike,

    Strike the bell

    (Chorus)

    Strike the bell, second mate, let us go below.

    Look ye well the weather, ye can see it's gonna blow

    Look at the glass, you can see that it has fell.

    We're wishin' ye would hurry up and strike,

    Strike the bell."

    —Dramtreeo, Storm, "Strike the Bell"

    March 3, 2009

  • My little brother is like always saying "Poop Poop" all day every day.

    January 25, 2011