turd en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- /tɝd/ (General-American)
- /tʌɹd/ (Scotland)
- /teːd/ Liverpool, fair–fur merger
- /tɜːd/ (Australia, Received-Pronunciation)
- /tøːd/ (New-Zealand)
- (Australia) audio
- tûrd (General-American)
- /tɛːd/ Humberside, Teesside, fair–fur merger
Etymology
From Middle English toord, tord, from Old English tord (“piece of dung, excrement, filth”), from Proto-West Germanic *tord, from Proto-Germanic *turdą (“manure, mud”), from Proto-Indo-European *der- (“to split, flay”). Cognate with Old English tyrdel (“dropping, small piece of excrement”), Old High German zort (“dung, excrement”), Old Norse torð- (“dung-”, in compounds), Middle Dutch tord (“lump of excrement”). More at tear, treddle.
Meanings
-
(informal, mildly, vulgar) A piece of solid feces.
How gladly would I have ſtopt the filthy mouth of that long-tongued fellow with a turd!
1671, Desiderius Erasmus, “The Sermon, or Merdardus”, in H. M., transl., Colloquies, London: H. Brome, B. Tooke, and T. Sawbridge, page 462:[…] just as Snitter felt himself exhausted and unable to do more, Rowf's rump slid suddenly forward as smoothly as a turd from a healthy anus […]
1977, Richard Adams, The Plague Dogs:[H]e's nea in a Banter by my Saul, gin ye had bean bye when he wreet, ye wold ha ſeen his Face furrow'd lik a dry Cow-Turd, an his Eyn as keen as an Engliſh Bull-Dog, an his Back as high as a Camels, ſo grat was his Wrath, an now he be a Soldier it be tan Times bigger.
1715, John Philips, The Earl of Mar Marr'd. With the Humours of Jockey, The Highlander: A Tragi-comical Farce, 2nd edition, London: E. Curll, →OCLC, act II, scene ii, page 11:Ugh, there are turds in the toilet that haven’t been flushed away.
When Giles got inside he found a bathtub full to the brim with piss and turds. Asked how much he expected to be paid to empty all this, trowel by trowel, Giles quoted a random sum: £2,000.
2025 September 23, Tom Lamont, “The human stain remover: what Britain’s greatest extreme cleaner learned from 25 years on the job”, in The Guardian:Thus, an insect that has evolved the useful disguise of looking very much like a piece of dung in order to damp the enthusiasm of any non-coprophagous predator is clearly on to a good thing but, as Stephen Jay Gould has wisely observed, what is the adaptive value in looking only 5 per cent like a turd?
1986 December 11, Ralph Estling, “You're a good man, Charlie Darwin”, in New Scientist, volume 112, number 1538, London: IPC Magazines, →OCLC, page 56:When he met with any of them upon the Street, he would never fail to put ſome Trick or other upon them; ſometimes putting a fry'd Turd in their graduate Hoods; […] One Day that the Theologians were appointed all to meet in the Sorbonne, he made a Barbonneſa Tart, made of Store of Garlick, Galbanum, Aſſa fœtida, Caſtoreum, Dogs Turds very warm; which he ſteep'd, temper'd, and liquify'd in the corrupt Matter of pocky Biles and peſtiferous Botches; and, very early in the Morning, therewith anointed all the Lattices and Grates of the Sorbonne in ſuch ſort, that the Devil could not have endured it.
1737, Francis Rabelais, “Of the Qualities and Conditions of Panurge”, in John Ozell, transl., The Works of Francis Rabelais …, book II (Gargantua and Pantagruel), London: J. Brindley, C. Corbett, →OCLC, pages 142–143:Thy teeth more comely than two dirty rakes are, / Thy breath is stronger than a douzen jakes are. / A fart for all perfumes, a turd for roses / Smell men but thee, they wish them selves all noses.
1658, John Mennes; James Smith, “A Poeticall Poem, by Mr. Stephen Locket to Mistrisse Bess Sarney”, in Facetiae. Musarum Deliciae: Or, The Muses Recreation, London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, 1817, OCLC 230583538, page 203The sausage on my plate could have been a turd, it tasted like a turd, it smelled like a turd, it had the texture of a turd. In fact, thinking about it, it probably was a turd.
2012, Sue Townsend, The Woman who Went to Bed for a Year, London: Michael Joseph, →ISBN:Hell, as bird number 697 they could have looked like old turds and I still would have got excited.
2005, Sean Dooley, The Big Twitch, Sydney: Allen and Unwin, page 292:
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(humorous, informal, mildly, vulgar) A worthless person or thing.
Last year, he arrested some crankhead turd, brings him down to the station. The guy's cuffed and Fred sets him down on the bench in the booking room. Now you know Fred, right? Not an abusive guy. Never even talks smack to suspects. Well, this turd, he starts kicking and shouting, […]
2008, James Patrick Hunt, Goodbye Sister Disco, New York, N.Y.: St. Martin's Minotaur, →ISBN:"Don't be a turd," Freddi says. "Don't be a Tones Turd." / "If telling the truth makes a man a turd, then a turd I shall be." / "Yeah," Freddi says. "You'll go down in history. Tones the Truth-Telling Turd. Kids will learn about you in school."
2014, Stephen King, Mr. Mercedes: A Novel, New York, N.Y.: Scribner, →ISBN, page 56:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| turds | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Deriveds
turdless · lefturd · turdlet · conservaturd · libturd · turdmouth · turdfeatures · turd sandwich · Turd World · turd-eater · turdnut · turdbutt · turd in the punchbowl · turdis · turdish · turdbucket · turd blossom · you can't polish a turd · righturd · turdy · turdball · tumble-turd · turdler · cowturd · turd burglar · Tom-turd · atomic buffalo turd · turdbreath · Turdeau · ghost turd · turdpile · turd strangler · Turd Reich · turd cutter · turdmuffin · turdlicker · turdhead · facturd · turdburger · turdhat · turdnugget · Zioturd · turdface · polish a turd · dogturd
Translations (86)
mi paratūtae (piece of solid feces) · nl drol (piece of solid feces) · hi लींड (piece of solid feces) · wa stron (piece of solid feces) · ro scârnă (piece of solid feces) · fr crotte (piece of solid feces) · fi pökäle (piece of solid feces) · cmn 大便 (piece of solid feces) · es truño (piece of solid feces) · el κουράδα (piece of solid feces) · he חרא (piece of solid feces) · ang tord (piece of solid feces) · de Hundehaufen (piece of solid feces) · sv bajskorv (piece of solid feces) · es bojote (piece of solid feces) · nv chąąʼ (piece of solid feces) · enm tord (piece of solid feces) · cs hovno (piece of solid feces) · pl bobek (piece of solid feces) · ar خِرَاء (piece of solid feces) · ar خَرَاء (piece of solid feces) · ru говно́ (piece of solid feces) · sh góvno (piece of solid feces) · grc σπυράς (piece of solid feces) · cmn 糞 /粪 (piece of solid feces) · hi लेंडी (piece of solid feces) · gl zurullo (piece of solid feces) · pt cagalhão (piece of solid feces) · ca cagarro (piece of solid feces) · es zurrullo (piece of solid feces) · es zorongo (piece of solid feces) · et junn (piece of solid feces) · de Haufen (piece of solid feces) · is kúkur (piece of solid feces) · ja 糞 (piece of solid feces) · ja 大便 (piece of solid feces) · ru ка́ка (piece of solid feces) · es mojón (piece of solid feces) · la stercus (piece of solid feces) · es sorete (piece of solid feces) · el σκατό (piece of solid feces) · es zorete (piece of solid feces) · pl gówno (piece of solid feces) · es sorongo (piece of solid feces) · mk ла́јно (piece of solid feces) · hu szar (piece of solid feces) · fi torttu (piece of solid feces) · mk го́мно (piece of solid feces) · de Pferdeapfel (piece of solid feces) · de Scheißtyp (worthless person or thing) · fr étron (piece of solid feces) · it stronzo (piece of solid feces) · ar بِرَاز (piece of solid feces) · ja 糞 (piece of solid feces) · is sparð (piece of solid feces) · ro rahat (piece of solid feces) · es boñigo (piece of solid feces) · de Kackwurst (piece of solid feces) · et sitajunn (piece of solid feces) · de Mist (worthless person or thing) · ja 屎 (piece of solid feces) · eo ekskremento (piece of solid feces) · mi parakaeto (piece of solid feces) · ru катя́х (piece of solid feces) · bg лайно (piece of solid feces) · es cerote (piece of solid feces) · da lort (piece of solid feces) · pt tolete (piece of solid feces) · es surullo (piece of solid feces) · ru кака́шка (piece of solid feces) · ko 똥 (piece of solid feces) · pt troço (piece of solid feces) · mi roke (piece of solid feces) · gl cagallón (piece of solid feces) · fi kikale (piece of solid feces) · ro căcat (piece of solid feces) · hu ganéj (piece of solid feces) · fi kikkare (piece of solid feces) · sh го́вно (piece of solid feces) · ka ნეხვი (piece of solid feces) · enm tord (worthless person or thing) · is lortur (piece of solid feces) · es zurullo (piece of solid feces) · th ขี้ (piece of solid feces) · ar غَائِط (piece of solid feces) · nb bæsj (piece of solid feces)