excretory

[ ek-skri-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee, ik-skree-tuh-ree ]

adjective

1. pertaining to or concerned in excretion; having the function of excreting:

   excretory organs.

Word History and Origins

Origin of excretory¹

First recorded in 1675–85; excrete + -ory ¹

Example Sentences

“It politicizes the human excretory function,” he said to even louder guffaws in the crowd.

From Los Angeles Times

"Our research has mapped the excretory patterns of animals, spanning eight orders of scale from tiny cicadas to massive elephants," he said.

From Science Daily

Sheidlower said that using “f—,” or “s—” for their actual definitions as “sexual terms or excretory terms; that’s still offensive. But that’s not because of the word itself. It’s because those concepts remain taboo.”

From Los Angeles Times

When combined with the hygiene rituals of bathrooms, in which we purify ourselves of the results of bodily functions, it's easy to see how conservatives can transfer those feelings from excretory functions to sexual ones.

From Salon

So the scientists further tested the parrotfish’s response by injecting lionfish and grouper effluent—an excretory soup from the predators’ water—into their tanks.

From Scientific American