Skip to content

orifice

noun

  1. an opening (such as a vent, mouth, or hole) through which something may pass
L324783 on Wikidata ↗

Wiktionary

Pronunciation: /ˈɒɹɪfɪs/ / /ˈɔɹəfɪs/

noun

Etymology: From Middle French, from Old French, from Late Latin ōrificium (“an opening, literally the making of a mouth”), compound of ōs (“mouth”) + faciō (“to make”).

  1. A mouth or aperture, such as of a tube, pipe, etc.; an opening.

    the orifice of an artery or vein; the orifice of a wound; he entered the cave's gaping orifice

    As none of the ovicells were observed to be closed by the operculum, presumably because they were empty and the opercula were resting on the primary orifice rim, the ovicell closure type is subcleithral rather than cleithral [51 ], at least in some species of the genus.

  2. One of the natural external openings of the human or animal body.

    the vagina and other orifices

    The maw-worm could emerge unexpectedly from any orifice, including, most alarmingly, the corner of people's eyes.

  3. A stupid or objectionable person.

    “Peanuts aren't nuts, you orifice. They're legumes.”