stomach

UK/ˈstʌmək/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

Northern England/ˈstʊmək/

stomach noun: an organ in animals that stores food in the process of digestion.

Image: cancer.gov, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

stomach (countable and uncountable, plural stomachs)

An organ in animals that stores food in the process of digestion.
- Our stomachs and livers have an enzyme known as alcohol dehydrogenase that breaks down ethanol to make it less toxic for our bodies, said Atlanta gastroenterologist Dr. Preston Stewart.2012 September 26, Jacque Wilson, “Experts: Alcohol enemas ‘extremely dangerous’”, in CNN
- A new study suggests people taking popular injected medications for weight loss, including Wegovy, Ozempic, Saxenda and Victoza, may be at higher risk for serious digestive problems such as stomach paralysis, pancreatitis, and bowel obstructions, compared with those taking other types of weight...2023 October 5, Brenda Goodman, “Researchers link popular weight loss drugs to serious digestive problems for ‘hundreds of thousands’ worldwide”, in CNN
(informal) The belly.
- Why did you hit me in the stomach?
Synonyms:

belly, abdomen, tummy, bouk, gut, guts, maw
(obsolete, uncountable) Pride, haughtiness.
- Sterne was his looke, and full of stomacke vaine, / His portaunce terrible, and stature tall […]1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto VII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC
- He was a man / Of an unbounded stomach, ever ranking / Himself with princes;c. 1606–1607 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Anthonie and Cleopatra”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard...
(obsolete) An appetite.
- a good stomach for roast beef
- You come not home because you have no stomach. / You have no stomach, having broke your fast.c. 1594 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Comedie of Errors”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...
(figuratively) A desire, an appetite (for something abstract).
- I have no stomach for a fight today.
- That he which hath no ſtomack to this fight, / Let him depart, his Paſport ſhall be made,1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life of Henry the Fift”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...
The part of a garment that covers a person's stomach.
- […] Mr. Sedley looking grand, with a crush opera-hat on one side of his head and his hand in the stomach of a voluminous white waistcoat.1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, →OCLC

Verb

stomach (third-person singular simple present stomachs, present participle stomaching, simple past and past participle stomached)

(transitive) To tolerate (something), emotionally, physically, or mentally; to stand or handle something.
- I really can’t stomach jobs involving that much paperwork, but some people seem to tolerate them.
- I can't stomach her cooking.
Synonyms:

brook
(intransitive, obsolete) To be angry.
- Let a man, though never so justly, oppose himself unto them that are disordered in their ways; and what one amongst them commonly doth not stomach at such contradiction, storm at reproof, and hate such as would reform them?[1594], Richard Hooker, edited by J[ohn] S[penser], Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie, […], London: […] Iohn Windet, […], →OCLC, (please specify the page)
(obsolete, transitive) To resent; to remember with anger; to dislike.
- O, my good lord, / Believe not all; or, if you must believe, / Stomach not all.c. 1606–1607 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Anthonie and Cleopatra”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard...
- The Lion began at first to shew his Teeth, and to Stomach the Affront.1692, Roger L’Estrange, “ (please specify the fable number.) (please specify the name of the fable.)”, in Fables, of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists: […], London: […] R[ichard] Sare, […], →OCLC
(obsolete, transitive) To turn the stomach of; to sicken or repel.

stomach meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

stomach in Hindi

digestive organ: आमाशय āmāśay, पेट peṭ, उदर udar
belly — see also abdomen, belly: पेट peṭ, उदर udar

stomach in Tamil

digestive organ: இரைப்பை iraippai, வயிறு vayiṟu

stomach in Marathi

digestive organ: जठर jaṭhar
belly — see also abdomen, belly: पोट poṭ

stomach in Urdu

digestive organ: مِعْدَہ mi'da, پیٹ peṭ
belly — see also abdomen, belly: پیٹ peṭ

More languagesFewer languages

stomach in Bengali: পাকস্থলী pakostholi, পেট peṭ
stomach in Telugu: జీర్ణకోశము jīrṇakōśamu, జీర్ణాశయము jīrṇāśayamu, పొట్ట poṭṭa, కడుపు kaḍupu
stomach in Malayalam: ആമാശയം āmāśayaṁ, വയറ് vayaṟŭ
stomach in Kannada: ಹೊಟ್ಟೆ hoṭṭe, ಉದರ udara
stomach in Punjabi: ਢਿੱਡ ḍhiḍḍa
stomach in Gujarati: જઠર jaṭhar, પેટ peṭ
stomach in Odia: ଫଣ୍ଡ phaṇḍa, ପେଟ Peṭa
stomach in Sanskrit: उदरम् udaram, उदर udara
stomach in Sinhala: බඩ baḍa
stomach in Assamese: পাকস্থলী pakostholi
stomach in Nepali: पेट peṭ
stomach in Pashto: معده me'dá, ګېډه géḍa, خېټه xéṭa
stomach in Tagalog: tiyan, sikmura
stomach in Arabic: مَعِدَة maʕida, مِعْدَة miʕda, بَطْن baṭn, معدة meʕda
stomach in Malay: perut
stomach in Indonesian: lambung, maag, perut
stomach in Persian: مِعْدِه me'de, شِکَم šekam, کُم kom
stomach in Thai: ท้อง tɔ́ɔng, กระเพาะ grà-pɔ́, กระเพาะอาหาร grà-pɔ́-aa-hǎan
stomach in Vietnamese: dạ dày, bao tử, bụng
stomach in Myanmar: ဝမ်း wam:, ဗိုက် buik
Dhivehi: މައިދާ maidā

Examples of stomach in a sentence

This sort of crying[…] proceeding from pride, obstinacy, and stomach, the will, where the fault lies, must be bent.1693, [John Locke], “§108”, in Some Thoughts Concerning Education, London: […] A[wnsham] and J[ohn] Churchill, […], →OCLC:
If after seven hours' tarrying he shall have no stomach, let him defer his meal, or eat very little at his ordinary time of repast.1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], chapter II, in The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […]...
At the moment, I don’t know what stomach there would be for stories about societies falling apart, so I’m not working away on one of those.2020 May 4, Lauren Morris, quoting Charlie Brooker, “Charlie Brooker gives Black Mirror season 6 update”, in Radio Times:
The Parliament sit in that body […] to be his counsellors and dictators, though he stomach it.1649, J[ohn] Milton, ΕΙΚΟΝΟΚΛΆΣΤΗΣ [Eikonoklástēs] […], London: […] Matthew Simmons, […], →OCLC:

All 40 example sentences with stomach

Synonyms of stomach

All synonyms of stomach

Forms of stomach

Noun
plural	stomachs
alternative form (obsolete)	stomack
Verb
third-person singular present	stomachs
present participle	stomaching
past participle	stomached
past	stomached

Plural of stomach: stomachs

Origin of stomach

From Middle English stomak, from Old French estomac, from Latin stomachus, from Ancient Greek στόμαχος (stómakhos), from στόμα (stóma, “mouth”). Partially displaced native Old English maga, whence Modern English maw.

Words formed from stomach

Questions about stomach

What does stomach mean?: Stomach means an organ in animals that stores food in the process of digestion.
What is stomach in Hindi?: Stomach in Hindi is आमाशय (āmāśay), पेट (peṭ), उदर (udar). See Stomach meaning in Hindi.
How do you use stomach in a sentence?: This sort of crying[…] proceeding from pride, obstinacy, and stomach, the will, where the fault lies, must be bent.
What part of speech is stomach?: Stomach can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce stomach?: Stomach is pronounced /ˈstʌmək/ (UK).
What is the plural of stomach?: The plural of stomach is stomachs.

Words near stomach in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: stomach (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-stomach.ogg.

Cite this entry: “stomach.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/stomach. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.