cloaca
Americannoun
PLURAL
cloacae-
Zoology.
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the common cavity into which the intestinal, urinary, and generative canals open in birds, reptiles, amphibians, many fishes, and certain mammals.
-
a similar cavity in invertebrates.
-
-
a sewer, especially an ancient sewer.
noun
-
a cavity in the pelvic region of most vertebrates, except higher mammals, and certain invertebrates, into which the alimentary canal and the genital and urinary ducts open
-
a sewer
Other Word Forms
- cloacal adjective
- precloacal adjective
Etymology
Origin of cloaca
1650–60; < Latin clo ( u ) āca, cluāca sewer, drain; probably akin to Greek klýzein to wash, wash away
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In January scientists from the University of Bristol and the University of Massachusetts Amherst revealed in the journal Current Biology that they had found a dinosaur cloaca.
From Salon
Paleontologists discovered this cloaca in the skin patterns of a Psittacosaurus, a dog-sized dinosaur related to the Triceratops.
From Salon
In addition, Vinther identified something "quite surprising and unique" in the dinosaur's cloaca — namely, the fact that it was very colorful, which suggested that they were used for visual signaling.
From Salon
It’s got a cloaca and beak, like a bird, but it also has fur and lives in the water, like a mammal.
From Scientific American
It has special organs in its cloaca that allow it to draw oxygen from the water.
From Seattle Times
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
