cloaca

Noun

cloaca (plural cloacas or cloacae)

1. (figuratively, sometimes) A sewer.
   • The Thames, polluted with the filthy effusions of the cloacae.1773, Gentleman's Magazine, number 43, page 598
   • […] that tremendous cloaca of Pauperism […]
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.
   • In birds the rectum, at the termination of its canal, forms an oval or elongated pouch […] and then expands into a cavity, which has been named cloaca.1822, John Mason Good, The Study of Medicine, volume I, page 7
3. An outhouse or lavatory.
   • To every house […] a cloaca.1840, Frederick Marryat, chapter XXIV, in Olla Podrida
   • Only think of that cloaca being supplied daily with such dainty bibliographical treasures!1880, William Blades, The Enemies of Books, page 55

   Synonyms:

   bathroom

4. A duct through which gangrenous material escapes a body.
   • Across this shell [sc. of bone] small holes are eaten, by which the matter escapes, and which are called cloacae (Weidmann).1846, Joseph François Malgaigne, translated by Frederick Brittan, Manual of Operative Surgery, page 172
5. Structure in the embryo during the development of the reproductive and urinary systems.