Word.ws English Dictionary

taking a shit

taking a shit is the present participle and gerund of take a shit.

Meaning of take a shit

Verb

take a shit (third-person singular simple present takes a shit, present participle taking a shit, simple past took a shit, past participle taken a shit)

  1. (colloquial, idiomatic, vulgar) To defecate.
    • Is Rachel still taking a shit? We gotta go now.
  2. (UK, colloquial, idiomatic, vulgar) To fail or malfunction.
    • I had to use the stairs because the lift took a shit this morning.
    Synonyms:
    crap out

Questions about taking a shit

What is taking a shit the present participle and gerund of?
Taking a shit is the present participle and gerund of take a shit.

Words near taking a shit in the dictionary

  1. taking a ride to Tyburn
  2. taking a risk
  3. taking a run at
  4. taking a seat
  5. taking a shining to
  6. taking a shit
  7. taking a shot in the dark
  8. taking a sight
  9. taking a stab at
  10. taking a stand
  11. taking a step back

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: taking a shit (page history and authors); take a shit (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.

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