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HOW TO PRONOUNCE

cloaca

/kloʊ̯ˈeɪ̯.kə/

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American Pronunciation Guide · 1:05
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What does cloaca mean?

noun

  1. (figuratively) A sewer.
  2. The opening in reptiles, amphibians and birds, as well as elasmobranchians, lobe-finned fishes, and monotreme mammals, which serves as the common outlet for the urogenital ducts and rectum.
  3. An outhouse or lavatory.
More meanings (2)

noun

  1. A duct through which gangrenous material escapes a body.
  2. Structure in the embryo during the development of the reproductive and urinary systems.

Definitions regrouped for readability · CC BY-SA 4.0

IPA pronunciation

/kloʊ̯ˈeɪ̯.kə/

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0

Pronunciation varies by speaker and region. About these dictionary pronunciations.

In the pages of books

See this word in context.

After working an hour I began to speculate on the distance one had to go before the cloaca was reached, the chances we had of missing it altogether.
H. G. (Herbert George) WellsThe war of the worldsProject Gutenberg ebook #36
At a much earlier period the uterus was double; the excreta were voided through a cloaca; and the eye was protected by a third eyelid or nictitating membrane.
Charles DarwinThe Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to SexProject Gutenberg ebook #2300
More book examples (2)
“His time is inexhaustible; he has nothing under the sun to do. Have you, Rowland? If you had seen the big hole I have been making in it! Where will you go first? You have your choice--from the Scala Santa to the Cloaca Maxima.”
Henry JamesRoderick HudsonProject Gutenberg ebook #176
Nay, the observations on finance of an M.C. whose sole knowledge of the subject has been derived from a life-long success in getting a living out of the public without paying any equivalent therefor, will perhaps be of interest hereafter to some explorer of our cloaca maxima, whenever it is cleansed.
James Russell LowellMy Garden AcquaintanceProject Gutenberg ebook #880