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defecation

   Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Medical, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.02 sec.

defecation

 or bowel movement

Elimination of feces from the digestive tract. Peristalsis moves feces through the colon to the rectum, where they stimulate the urge to defecate. The rectum shortens, pushing the feces into the anal canal, where internal and external sphincters allow them to be passed or retained. Chest, abdominal, and pelvic muscles are used to pass them. Long delay of defecation causes constipation and hardened feces. See also diarrhea, incontinence.


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With slow-transit constipation, moderate aerobic exercise has been found to have an effect on increasing gut transit but no effect on defecation frequency.
The spread of the Skid Row homeless population--along with its attendant drug use and dealing, public defecation and prostitution--is being blamed on an April ruling by the Ninth Cicuit Court of Appeals in a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union over the city's tactics for policing the homeless.
Behavioral determinants include unsanitary defecation habits, use of human excreta as fertilizer, and food consumption and cooking habits.
 
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